


Slapshots and Backhands

by tumblruserpailylove



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Abuse of Authority, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hockey, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Anger, Arguing, Awkward Nicole, Betrayal, Blood, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Enemies, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Fighting, First Dates, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Gunshot, High School, Hockey, Hockey Player Nicole Haught, Humor, Interrupting Wynonna Earp, Junior Hockey, Museum Date, Nervous Nicole, No Incest, Oblivious Nicole Haught, Oblivious Wynonna Earp, Pranks, Protective Wynonna Earp, Relationship Reveal, Rivals, Secret Relationship, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sports, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Tragedy, Trust Issues, Wayhaught - Freeform, but she has, no romance between wynonna and nicole so don't worry, okay enjoy, teammates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:31:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 119,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumblruserpailylove/pseuds/tumblruserpailylove
Summary: High school AU- Wynonna and Nicole have been hockey rivals through their entire youth careers. When Nicole is moved to Purgatory her Senior year they are both expected to put their differences aside to be teammates. The transition won't be easy for either of them. To complicate it further, Waverly finds herself caught in the middle of their feud when she is unexpectedly drawn to Nicole. Worst of all? The Earp sisters are just trying to survive their father and no one seems to want to help them. Nicole quickly starts to realize that being teammates with Wynonna Earp is going to be far more complicated than she thought.Prompt fill "Wynonna and Nicole as rival hockey players in high school. Nicole is secretly dating Waverly"-------------------





	1. #1 - Georges Vézina

“Bad blood is defined as an ill feeling or bitterness between two parties. To use this term to describe the relationship rising youth hockey stars Wynonna Earp and Nicole Haught have would be an understatement. In fact there may not be a term that exists in modern language to describe the level of animosity between these two parties.

Both names are familiar to anyone who follows the women’s youth hockey program in Canada. Most of the time you can not say one name without mentioning the other in your next breath. They come as a package deal, not because they play well together, but because of the epic battles they have had playing on the opposite sides of the ice.

No one can get away with mentioning the under 10 league championship game seven years ago without mentioning the precisely placed high stick by Earp that ended up breaking Haught’s nose. 

Two years later Haught got her own form of revenge when a blazing slap shot soared a little too high and ended up in Earp’s face causing a broken orbital bone and ending her season that year.

A perfectly clean and timed check into the boards by Earp in their first meeting the next season dislocated Haught’s shoulder and caused her to miss her first shot at qualifying for the Canadian Junior Olympic squad. A squad that Earp then helped lead to the Junior World Gold Medal.

Finally, and most notably, a season ago their feud boiled over when a cheap shot slash across Earp’s wrists ignited a bench-clearing brawl that ended with a record twelve players serving penalty time concurrently.

Now, in their senior years, their torrid history is about to get a new chapter. Earlier this summer-”

Suddenly a loud, thundering echo moved through the nearly empty ice rink, startling Waverly where she sat in the stands typing out her story on her laptop. She looked up just in time to see what had caused the noise and the aftermath of that event.

“What the Hell Haught!” Wynonna came charging toward Nicole who was standing stationary in the middle of the ice. “I know you missed that shot on purpose!”

“It got away from me!” Nicole shouted in defense as she pointed toward the goal with her hockey stick.

“Oh just like the one that busted my face?” Wynonna snarled as she motioned to the visor she now wore on her helmet to protect her eyes.

“That one was an accident too” Nicole affirmed with a nod before motioning to her own nose “Unlike the stick you used to rearrange my face.”

“I’ll do it again in a heartbeat, too!” Wynonna yelled before attempting to lunge at Nicole. 

The assistant coach who was nearby quickly squandered Wynonna’s surge toward Nicole by looping his own hockey stick around her waist and giving her enough of a tug to spin her away. 

Wynonna had grabbed hold of the stick around herself and whirled around to unleash a battery of obscenities at its owner. She quickly clapped her mouth shut when she realized the stick belonged to one of the coaches. She just shoved it away and skated toward him with her heavily gloved hands held in the air innocently “You saw her aim that shot at me!”

“I did not!” Nicole yelled in protest.

“Enough!” Doc, the assistant coach, yelled as he brought his stick down on the ice hard enough to cause another thundering clap to echo around the rink. It also snapped his stick in half. He looked between the two teenage girls and shook his head “I think you’ve both forgotten that these are tryouts. Neither of you have made the team yet and if this keeps up neither of you will.”

“Alright, alright, what’s the problem?” An older man skated into the center of the rink now as the commotion had caught his attention from where he had been talking to another player on the benches. He looked between the two girls, and then his assistant coach, and gave a shake of his head “Is someone going to speak up?”

“She tried to take out my other eye” Wynonna pointed at Nicole as she growled the accusation.

“The pass was bouncing. I did my best to straighten my shot” Nicole huffed and pointed with her stick toward the goal again.

The older man nodded and held his hands up toward both girls. He looked at them each for a few seconds before dropping his hands. He pointed to one end of the ice before turning and yelling so all the players still moving around the ice could hear. “Everyone line up for suicide sprints!”

There was a collective groan from everyone on the ice. The drill was one where the players had to skate full speed back and forth various lengths, tagging up at certain lines, then returning to their starting point. It was a drill designed to condition the body. It was also designed as punishment. No one in any sport liked these drills. 

“Way to go, Haught” One of the other girls on the ice grumbled as she skated by Nicole.

Another girl not so subtly shoved Nicole on her way passed. This made Wynonna smirk. This was her team. She had been the captain and leader of her high school team since her Freshman year. She had also been the leader on every previous team she had played on before high school. She was the pride and joy of the Purgatory youth hockey program and Nicole was the outsider. She was the enemy trying to fit into a very hostile environment.

“Let’s move!” The head coach yelled, clapping his hands in a way to motivate the girls to hurry to the end line he had pointed at.

Nicole sighed and slowly made her way to the end of the ice. She glanced down the row of girls and realized not a single person was looking at her. Instead they were all talking about her, blaming her for the fact that they had to do skate sprints now. She let out a sigh. She had never felt more alone in her life.

“Haught. Earp!” The coach motioned to the two girls with his hand to indicate he wanted to speak them. He then put his whistle in his mouth and blew it. When he blew it the rest of the girls took off at full speed down the ice. 

Nicole moved toward the bench where the coach had stationed himself. She slid right up against the short boards there and put her elbow on the top of the railing of the wall. She pointed behind her to where Wynonna was approaching and shook her head “I wasn’t aiming for her, I-”

He lifted his hand to cut her off. He then waited for Wynonna to reach the boards where they stood. Once the two of them were there he stepped to the side and pushed open the small door in the wall that lead into the bench area and toward the locker room. Without another word he motioned for the two of them to head off the ice.

Nicole wanted to argue but she wouldn’t. She had learned a long time ago not to argue with the coach. That was the best way to make sure you didn’t see any ice time on game day. So she just hung her head in shame and stepped off the ice, walking in her skates on the rubber flooring down the corridor toward the locker room.

As Wynonna stepped off the ice she looked at the coach with a huff “Nedley, I swear. She hesitated on that shot until she knew where I was. Then she fired.”

“Can it, Earp” Coach Nedley grumbled with a shake of his head and motioned for her to follow Nicole. 

After no more protest came the three of them moved down the corridor in silence. Once they were alone, just outside the locker room doors, Nedley cleared his throat and looked at the girls seriously. When he spoke it was calmly but with a tone that showed he was not messing around. “I don’t care what happened in the past between you two. Whatever happened before was on the ice and it was all in the name of competition. I can handle a little healthy competition between teammates but I will not tolerate this…” He motioned between the two girls who clearly could not stand one another and gave his head a little shake. “I have half a mind to cut you both and spend my last year coaching a losing team. It would be a Hell of a lot less stressful than putting up with you two bickering all the damn time.”

Nicole frowned and glanced at Wynonna. The last thing she wanted to do was come in and destroy Coach Nedley’s chance to retire as a champion. Though he had never coached her personally, Nicole was very familiar with the man. He was well known throughout the girl’s hockey program. He had scouted her a few times throughout the years but she had never been eligible to play for his team because of residency boundaries. When she had learned her parents had started a new work project in Purgatory and they would be moving she had reached out to Nedley immediately. That man had been thrilled, to say the least.

Nedley came from a long line of hockey stars. His grandfather had played in professional leagues all over the world. His father had been a record-setting goal scorer in the American professional league. Nedley himself was on the same path as his father before an injury his second year in the pros ended his career early. He had taken to coaching shortly after and had made a name for himself that way. Some of the girls he had coached throughout the years had moved on to become Olympic and World gold medal winning players. He was as good as you got when it came to coaching hockey.

But Wynonna was making it hard for Nicole to feel welcome on the team. Although it was still only tryouts it was already a given that these two girls would make the team. There was already talk about how this would be the best team the high school had ever seen. Most people already considered this team a sure thing to win the state championship. There was even talk that they’d take the National crown too. Nicole wanted that more than anything. She wanted it for herself and she wanted to be able to send Nedley to retirement with one last championship under his belt.

“Listen” Nedley’s voice broke into Nicole’s momentary day dream about the championship and drew her attention back to him. He pointed at both girls just once before giving a single nod “Every single time I catch you two arguing I am shaving playing time off both of you.”

“You can’t” Wynonna grunted and motioned behind her toward where the rink was “There are going to be college scouts at every single game this year!”

“Then you better get your shit together” Nedley said firmly. “I mean it, Earp. The more you two bicker the less ice time you see.” He glanced between the two of them again. “I have put up with egos far bigger than the both of yours combined. I’m not afraid to punish you two for acting out.”

“She started it!” Nicole huffed and motioned to Wynonna.

Wynonna gasped and turned toward Nicole with a growl rolling from her lips “You hit a 90 mile per hour slap shot at my FACE!”

“IT GOT AWAY FROM ME!” Nicole shouted back.

“ENOUGH!” Nedley yelled and stepped between the girls. “Cool it, you two. How about you hit the showers and call it a day. If you two start this shit up again tomorrow you can count yourselves off the team for good.”

“But she-” Wynonna started but was cut off by a glare from Nedley. She frowned and gave her head a shake before tossing her stick and helmet to the ground. She then stormed passed Nicole, using her shoulder to shove the girl on her way by, mumbling under her breath as she did so.

Nicole watched her go before giving her head a shake. She looked back at Nedley and motioned with her stick toward where Wynonna had just disappeared into the locker room “She’s a hot head. She has it out for me. I’ve never done anythin-”

“Enough, Haught” Nedley held his hand up calmly to stop Nicole from continuing. “I saw the smirk on your face after the check you gave her earlier. You’re not innocent in this.”

Nicole bit her lip guiltily and dropped her eyes to her feet. She nodded just once before she mumbled out a soft “Yes, coach.”

“Go” Nedley motioned to the locker room again. “I want to see you here bright and early before class tomorrow. Earp, too. If you two have the energy to fight you have the energy to skate.”

Nicole gasped and looked up at Nedley. She was about to protest but the man had already started back up the corridor toward the ice. She let out a groan and turned to move into the locker room with a shake of her head. She had a feeling Wynonna was going to make her last year of high school hockey a living Hell.

As she stepped into the locker room she heard a loud clang of a locker door slamming shut. She rolled her eyes and came around the corner to stand at the start of the row of lockers where Wynonna stood. She eyed the girl up and down then let out a huff “Nedley wants us here before class tomorrow.”

“Shut up” Wynonna grumbled as she worked feverishly at the ties on the front of her hockey pants. They were a set of comically large pads designed to protect the wearer’s hips and thighs. They were about two times the width of Wynonna’s torso so it kind of made it hard to take her seriously as she stood there pulling at the strings.

Nicole shook her head and made her way over to her own locker. She dropped her stick and her large padded gloves to the floor before sitting on the bench. She then bent forward and started to pull at the laces on her skates.

A weird silence filled the room as the two of them worked to get out of their hockey gear and into normal clothes. It was a tension filled silence. Each passing second brought a new degree of boiling hostility into the air. It was uncomfortable to sit in to say the very least.

So Nicole, unable to stand it any longer, cleared her throat softly. “He’s right, you know? It’s all been in the name of competition.”

“Shut your mouth” Wynonna growled as her eyes lifted to focus a scowl at Nicole. She squinted her eyes so harshly it seemed as if she was trying to blow Nicole’s head off with invisible beams of hate. 

Nicole puff out a frustrated breath as she stared in disbelief at Wynonna. She was trying to extend an olive branch and was getting nothing in return. Finally she relented a shake of her head and turned away from her to focus on untying her own set of leg pads. “I’m fucking trying, Earp. You’re being an absolute bitch.”

“I swear to-” Wynonna snarled then stopped herself. She closed her eyes, drew in a sharp breath through her nose, clenched her fists, and held it. She stayed like that for a few moments before slowly releasing both her breath and her fists. When her eyes came open she looked back at Nicole with annoyance in her eyes “You being here is my worst nightmare. All I wanted to do was enjoy my senior year, win a championship or two, and get the Hell out of Purgatory forever.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and breathed out a grunt of a laugh as she stood from the bench now and started to push her pads off her legs “I’m not going to stop you from any of that, trust me.”

Wynonna pulled her overly large team hoodie over herself now with a huff. She glanced at Nicole then looked down into her hockey bag to start checking that she had everything. “Just stay out of my way, Haught.”

“That’s going to be hard considering we’re teammates.”

“Not yet” Wynonna hissed. 

Nicole rolled her eyes as she kicked her pads away. Then then turned around to face Wynonna. “Are you seriously going to hold a grudge for all of the shit I’ve done to you on the ice? It’s a rough sport. Injuries are a part of it all.”

“You…” Wynonna stood upright now as her hand lifted in a point at Nicole. She narrowed her eyes at her again and took a step over her bag of gear. “You have nearly ended my career twice before I even made it to high school. Do you really just want me to laugh it off like it’s no big deal?”

Nicole puffed out a laugh and shook her head as she pulled her practice jersey and pads off over her head now. After tossing them aside she focused back on Wynonna “It’s just a game, Earp. If you couldn’t play in high school I am sure you’d find something else.”

“Don’t pretend you know a thing about me” Wynonna snarled though it lacked real bite. There was a hint behind her eyes that said that maybe Nicole was wrong. Maybe Wynonna had nothing else. But it faded quickly and she turned back to gather her bag. She lifted it off the ground and put the strap on her shoulder before turning back to head down the small row of lockers toward the exit. She made sure her huge bag of gear not so subtly ran into Nicole, knocking the girl off balance and into the lockers behind her. A smirk came to her lips as she heard Nicole call after her. Served her right for trying to act like she cared. 

Nicole just shook her head in defeat as Wynonna stormed out of the locker room. She let out a heavy sigh and sat back on the bench. She grumbled to herself as she pulled the tape off her ankles and one of her wrists. Hockey was a tough sport and she already had a lot of aches and pains from it. But it was all part of the thrill. Hopefully she could still feel that thrill this year. If Wynonna had her way, though, she wouldn’t see the ice at all.

Nicole tried to shake the annoyance that Wynonna had caused out of her mind as she finished changing into regular clothes. After dressing and gathering all her gear she headed from the locker room herself. She paused just outside to look at the rink. They were just finishing tryouts for the day. She shook her head at that. She had to get her own temper under control before she risked throwing away her chance to play on this team.

Finally heading outside, she pushed the doors open only to be greeted with biting cold. It was always cold in Purgatory. At least the sun was still kind of up, though. She adjusted her beanie down over her ears a little more, zipped up the front of her coat, then started toward her car.

As she approached her car she noticed a small figure leaning against it. Nicole slowed her pace just slightly as she assessed the scene. The girl was tiny and held a notebook to her chest. She looked cold. She also looked very adorable all bundled up with her scarf blowing in the breeze. A smile came to Nicole’s lips at the thought. She decided this girl was not a threat and picked her pace back up.

“Can I help you?” Nicole asked as she reached her car and looked the girl over again carefully now that she could see her more clearly in the fading light of the day.

“Hi, yes. My name is Waverly…” The smaller girl smiled and held her hand out toward Nicole to shake it. When Nicole hesitated, Waverly bit her lip and dropped her hand back to her side. “I am doing a piece on the hockey team for the school paper and I was hoping to get an interview with you.”

Nicole puffed out a laugh as she put her key into the trunk to unlock it “Well I haven’t made the team yet.”

Waverly laughed very softly and rolled her eyes “You and I both know you’re going to make it.”

Nicole threw her gear bag, which weighed nearly as much as herself, into the trunk then slammed it shut before turning to look at Waverly. She eyed the girl over once more then smiled softly “You sound pretty confident about that.”

“Well anyone who knows anything about youth hockey knows who you are” Waverly said with a bit of a shy shrug. She took a moment to really look Nicole over now. She was much taller than she had initially thought but far less intimidating. With all the heavy padding of a hockey uniform it was always hard to tell how big a person really was. She had to admit she liked Nicole in regular clothing. She seemed far more approachable.

Nicole smirked very slightly at the comment. She would never admit it but she did have a bit of an ego and she liked knowing that people knew who she was. Particularly, she decided in that moment, she liked knowing that this cute girl standing in front of her knew who she was. So she gave a soft laugh and nodded at her “And I’m guessing you know something about youth hockey?”

“I am writing an article about it” Waverly reminded Nicole then tapped her hand against the notebook she still had pressed against her chest.

Nicole nodded at the reminder and once more looked Waverly over. A smile came to her lips as she realized this stranger she had never met had somehow brightened her day in just a few moments. When her eyes came back up to meet Waverly’s her smile grew “I’ll tell you what. If I make the team than you will be the first person to hear about it.”

Waverly’s smile grew with excitement lighting her eyes. She nodded quickly as she pulled the notebook away from her chest now. She pulled off the pen clipped to the spine of the notebook and started to write as she spoke “Final cuts are posted Friday night. So…” She ripped the page she had been writing on out of her book then extended the paper toward Nicole “How’s Saturday?”

Nicole bit back another laugh as she reached for the paper being offered her way. She could immediately see Waverly’s phone number had been scribbled down. She smirked very slightly then looked back up at Waverly with a nod “Are you asking me out?”

Waverly blushed immediately. Her eyes fluttered in quick blinks and her head gave a bit of a shake. She stumbled out a soft “N-no, I-I just wanted to-”

Nicole laughed out softly now and started to fold the paper she had been given. She tucked it into the back pocket on her jeans and gave Waverly a little nod “It’s a date.” She gave Waverly a wink then turned toward the driver side door.

“No” Waverly shook her head quickly and followed right behind Nicole. When Nicole paused to open her door, she lifted the pen she still held and used it to shake back and forth in a motion mimicking her head “No, it’s not a date. It’s an interview. This is strictly business. I’m not-”

“It’s just a saying” Nicole lifted her hand to stop Waverly’s nervous rambling as an amused smile came to her lips. She couldn’t help herself. She was a flirt and she loved to fluster girls. It had been easy to do most of her life because, well, girls loved a star athlete. It was ingrained in their DNA or something. At least that was the experience she had had with girls thus far. To say she was a little bit of a player would be an understatement. But it was small town Canada and there wasn’t really much else to do outside of hockey so she had filled her time off the ice by using the only other talent she had: charisma.

“Oh, right” Waverly blushed again then stepped back from Nicole. She bit her lip and eyed the girl over for a moment. She rolled her eyes and took another step back “I will see you Saturday. And, please…” She started walking backwards now but kept her eyes on Nicole. She lifted her pen and pointed at her once more before shaking her head “...keep the flirting out of it. I am a very serious journalist.”

Nicole smirked and gave Waverly a flick of a wave as she called out “Oh I have no doubt about that.” She laughed to herself as she watched Waverly run off before she finally got into her car. Her smile held as she started the car and headed out of the parking lot. So maybe Purgatory wasn’t such an awful place, afterall. If nothing else she at least had a pretty girl to look at now.

As Nicole’s car left the lot, Waverly shook her head to herself as she approached her own ride home. She pulled the passenger side door of Wynonna’s truck open and was about to climb in but was stopped when she realized her sister was not alone. She let out a groan and rolled her eyes “Really?”

Wynonna pulled back from the intense make out session she had been wrapped up in and looked over the guy’s shoulder at her little sister. She smirked at Waverly and gave a shrug “What? I got in trouble last time I left you at school so I thought I’d at least entertain myself while I waited for you.”

“Well I’m done, so…” Waverly motioned to the guy who she recognized from her Biology class and shrugged “Can we go?”

“Buzzkill” Wynonna grumbled then looked at the boy she had just been making out with. She gave a motion with her head toward the door “You heard the kid, Bryce. Beat it.”

The senior boy who was a member of the boy’s hockey team grumbled and slid out of the truck. He put his feet on the ground next to Waverly and straightened out his shirt before pulling his coat over himself. He then reached for his jeans and tugged his zipper back into place before giving Waverly a wink “See you in Biology tomorrow.”

“Gross” Waverly grumbled again with a roll of her eyes. She climbed into the now vacated seat of the truck and swung the heavy door closed. She huffed at her sister as she pulled her seatbelt over herself “I thought you wanted to get out of Purgatory.” 

Wynonna breathed out a laugh as she started her truck and threw it into drive “More than anything.”

“Then why are you doing that?” Waverly motioned toward the window to indicate the boy they had just left behind in the parking lot. “If you’re not careful you’ll end up knocked up and stuck in this town just like momma.”

“Bite your tongue” Wynonna hissed as she slammed on the gas and skidded out of the lot and onto the street. She narrowed her eyes and glared at her sister “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I know nobody believes it but I am smarter than that.”

“You’d better start acting like it” Waverly mumbled as her head turned now to look out the window. A silence filled the cab of the truck as they bounced along the roads of Purgatory heading toward the house. It was out in the country so it was a bit of a drive. Waverly was not content to sit in silence for the entirety of the trip, though. So after a few moments she glanced back at Wynonna and broke the silence “You need to lay off the new girl. I saw the way you got kicked out of tryouts today.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes but kept them on the road. She didn’t say anything. Maybe if she didn’t acknowledge her sister she would stop talking.

Of course that was not Waverly’s style at all. When nothing came from Wynonna she just kept talking “You’re one year away from leaving this place just like you’ve always wanted to. Would it kill you to act like an adult and get through this season without incident?”

“Probably” Wynonna mumbled. She glanced over and when she saw Waverly scowling at her she let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve got to keep my edge, now more than ever, if I’m going to get any scholarship offers, babygirl.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think scouts are going to like hearing you can’t get along with your teammates” Waverly said with a shake of her head.

“Haught is terrible” Wynonna groaned out. “The only reason she looks as good as she does is because the teams around her were filled with the worst players I have ever seen. Put her on the ice with people who have real talent and she’s not going to look like a star player anymore. She’s a hack and-”

“And you want to be the one to make her realize that by, what, bullying her around?” Waverly cut her sister off now with bite in her tone. “If she’s not as good as people think than she will have no problem looking terrible on her own. You can’t let her distract you, Wynonna. If you’re too busy making her life Hell you’ll lose focus on your own game. And then what?” She gave a heavy shrug and her head shook again “Don’t let your ego blow this for you.”

“I hate her” Wynonna snapped back at Waverly now. “I also don’t appreciate your tone right now. You’re starting to sound a lot like daddy. In fact, you wanna just wail on me here in the truck to really drive the point home?”

Waverly immediately deflated. She let out a long sigh as she slumped in her seat now. Her head gave a twitch of a shake and she whispered very carefully “I’m sorry.”

Wynonna’s defensively puffed chest shrunk now too. She was always so quick to fight. She had spent her entire childhood fighting. Their father was a drunk who loved to hit the women in his house whenever the whiskey was gone. For whatever reason, Wynonna was his favorite target. She had taken the brunt of the abuse for most of her life. He said he was teaching her to be a tougher hockey player. In reality he was just an abusive asshole.

Their older sister, Willa, had already gotten out. She left for college two years prior and hadn’t returned. Their mother had left years before that, when Wynonna was ten and Waverly only seven. After that their father’s drinking had gotten worse. He blamed the girls but it was his own fault. He was a terrible person.

Waverly bit back the urge to cry she felt forming in her throat. She reached over and put her hand on her sister’s leg. She gave a soft squeeze and that was it. That was all the apology necessary. They had to be a team. They had to get through this together. Wynonna getting a hockey scholarship was important to the both of them and sometimes they needed a reminder of why they were fighting so hard for it.

Waverly was going to transfer to a new high school in whatever town Wynonna attended college. The further away the better. They were going to use the little money they had gotten as an inheritance from their uncle and start a new life far away from their father. But they couldn’t do that if Wynonna didn’t get a scholarship. The money they had wouldn’t last more than six months if Wynonna wasn’t in school.

There were some colleges that had hockey programs that were just as big as football or basketball. If you got a scholarship to play at an elite school you didn’t have to pay for anything. Your housing was paid for. Your classes were paid for. You even got to a food allowance through the school. They would be set up. That was what they were working toward.

After a few moments of silence and thought about everything they had at stake, Wynonna let out a sigh. She reached down and took hold of Waverly’s hand. She gave it a squeeze before clearing her throat and speaking softly. “I’m sorry, Waves.”

Waverly nodded and returned the squeeze back. The two of them sat like that for a few more moments. It was the last little bit of peace they would have before getting home. They were sure their father was piss drunk by now and ready for a fight.

As they pulled into their home drive and Wynonna turned off the truck she looked over to Waverly. Her head gave a shake and she let out another soft sigh “I can’t promise you I’ll be her friend but I will try to at least….” She shrugged and lifted her hand in a vague gesture toward nothing as she searched for the wording she wanted. When that failed she gave up and let her hand drop “....not care about her.”

Waverly rolled her eyes but smiled slightly. That was all she could ask for really. So she gave her sister a nod before she reached for her backpack “Good enough. Now…” She breathed out sharply and glanced at the dark house with a few lights shining through the windows. She shook her head then looked at her sister “Are you ready for this?”

“Maybe he’s asleep” Wynonna mumbled without much conviction. They both knew the man was waiting to yell at them for being home so late even though he knew Wynonna had practice after school.

“I’ll go in first and distract him. Maybe you can sneak to your room without him noticing” Waverly offered as she slid out of the truck now. She put her backpack on then closed the truck door and moved around to Wynonna’s side. She waited for her sister to get out then motioned to the house “Or you can wait out here until does fall asleep and sneak in then?”

“Nah” Wynonna breathed out which caused a cloud of breath to rise into the icy night air. “I’ll risk it. You know I’m not afraid of that old man anyway.” That was a lie. She was terrified of him. He had beaten her bloody more times than she could count. Luckily she played hockey so she never had to make excuses for her bruises. 

“Besides” She added as they moved toward the house now, slowly, because neither of them were in any hurry to walk into a bad situation. “I didn’t fight Haught today so I still have a few punches left in me.” She tried to laugh but it fell flat. Honestly, she didn’t want Waverly going in alone because she didn’t want him to beat her instead. So she would gladly take a beating if it meant her little sister was safe.

Waverly frowned as they reached the front door. She listened closely and when she didn’t hear anything inside she just shrugged. She looked back at Wynonna then nodded her head just once “I don’t hear anything.” She reached for the door and took hold of the handle. She then reached back in search of Wynonna’s hand. Once her hand was tucked safely in Wynonna’s she drew in a deep breath and pulled the door open as quietly as she could as she silently prayed that their father was asleep.

Sometimes, prayers do come true. They both exhaled in relief as they walked into the house and realized their dad was passed out on the couch. After sharing a glance at one another they then parted ways and silently moved around the house. Waverly grabbed some snacks from the fridge which she then passed on to Wynonna in the hallway. They then went to their own rooms, changed into some pajamas, and settled in to finish any homework they had. All in all it had been a good day. At least Wynonna considered any day she didn’t get clobbered by her dad a good day. The bar was set pretty low but she wouldn’t complain. She would enjoy the peace for the night. It was a small victory in the war she had been fighting for longer than she ever should have had to. But she was close, so close, to the end of it all. She just had to hold on and keep taking it one day at a time.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	2. #2 - Doug Harvey

The next day of tryouts proved to be pretty uneventful. Well as uneventful as hockey gets. A few big hits, a few badly timed shots, and a little bickering between everyone. But Wynonna and Nicole had avoided conflict. That was mainly due to the fact that they had been put on the same team that day for drills which meant they had no need to compete. They had no need to hit one another. It was a smart move by the coaches. They wanted to both squash any chance for those two to go at it and also see how well they worked together. To everyone’s surprise they had gotten along well and showed that maybe if they put their differences aside they really could have a successful season.

The third day of tryouts was not so relaxing. Nicole ended up with a bloody nose and although Wynonna had not been directly involved she had not been completely innocent. She might have given someone a few bucks to throw an elbow a little too high and clock Nicole in the face. It was her way of reminding Nicole who was in charge. Though there was no way to prove it, her uncaring smirk as Nicole was helped off the ice was all the proof Nicole needed to verify this had been no accident.

Nicole laid back now on the table in the trainer’s room with an ice pack on her face. Ever since Wynonna broke her nose when they were younger she had a hard time stopping the bleeding once it started. So she had been instructed by the trainer not to move from that spot for at least a half an hour to help ensure the bleeding would cease.

She let out a soft huff as she stared at the ceiling in the room. She could hear the echoing of the tryouts still going on in the rink. She hated that she had once more been taken off the ice early. She wanted to prove she belonged on the team and not just been given a spot because of her name. She knew these girls would give her a hard enough time once she joined the team and she couldn’t even imagine how nasty they’d be if they felt she had been handed the spot without earning it.

The quiet of the room was broken with a soft knock to the door. Nicole, expecting it to be the trainer coming back to check on her, called out without looking at the door “I think the bleeding is done. Can I got back out there now?”

Waverly let out a soft laugh at the response as she walked into the room now. “You hockey players are nuts. Don’t you have that little voice in your head telling you to take it easy?”

A smile came to Nicole’s lips as soon as she was greeted with the unexpected but welcome voice of her visitor. She lifted her head now and removed the ice pack so she could see Waverly. Just as she had thought, the girl was as cute as she had been the last time she had seen her. She let her gaze linger on the girl before finally giving her head a slight shake “I can’t take it easy. Not when my back is against the wall.”

“What makes you think that?” Waverly asked softly as a frown came to her lips once she saw the state of Nicole’s face. Her eyes were already starting to blacken near her nose. She pointed at the left side of her own nose then quickly motioned at Nicole “I don’t think the bleeding stopped.”

Nicole was too distracted by Waverly’s presence to register what she had just said. It took her a few seconds before she felt the blood trickling out of her nose and down over her upper lip. When she did so she let out a groan and reached for the tissue she had been using to wipe away the blood. “Shit” She whispered as she gently laid the ice back over her nose and put her head back on the table where she was laying.

“It was a cheap shot” Waverly said gently as she moved closer now. She looked down at Nicole’s ice pack covered face and shook her head. She would never understand the thrill of the risk that came with playing hockey. “I saw the girl purposely come in high with her elbow raised at your face.”

“Yeah, well, they all hate me so I’m not surprised” Nicole mumbled from under the ice.

Waverly was quiet for a few moments as her eyes scanned the room. She moved over toward one of cabinets there and rifled through a few things before she found what she was looking for. With her supplies in hand she came back to the table. She reached for the ice pack and when Nicole flinched, she pulled her hand back. She bit her lip nervously and spoke very calmly “I’m just going to take a look if that’s alright?”

How could Nicole say no? She was a sucker for a pretty girl to begin with. But the way Waverly had apparently taken interest in her well being and done so in such a delicate way? Nicole couldn’t find a single ounce of strength inside her to even begin to say no. So instead she nodded and pulled the ice off her face.

Waverly smiled down at Nicole when her face finally came into full view. She let her eyes lock with Nicole’s for a moment, offering the girl a calming gaze, before silently nodding at her and reaching now to touch at Nicole’s nose. She worked quickly but carefully. It was obvious she had dealt with her fair share of bloody noses. 

Nicole didn’t fight it. Instead she just stared at the beautiful girl above her who was taking such care to make sure she didn’t hurt her as she helped to stop the bleeding. Each time Waverly’s smile twitched at the corners of her lips or her eyes met Nicole’s gaze to ensure she wasn’t in pain she felt her heart do a flip. She could feel a crush developing and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“There you are” Waverly whispered softly once she had finished her work. She stepped back from the table now and motioned to Nicole. “You can sit up. I’m pretty sure I stopped the bleeding.”

Nicole grinned gratefully as she slowly pushed herself to sitting. She did so carefully to ensure it really had stopped. Once she was sitting upright and her feet were dangling off the side of the table she looked up at Waverly with a soft laugh coming from her lips. “How did you know how to do that?”

“I don’t want you to think I’m a geek” Waverly laughed gently, almost shyly, as she turned now to return her unused supplies back to the medical cabinet she had gotten them from.

“I don’t think I could ever think you were a geek” Nicole breathed out softly as if the idea was completely ridiculous to her.

Waverly turned back to Nicole now that her hands were empty. She caught the way the girl was looking at her, really taking her in from head to toe, and she felt herself blush. She had to quickly shake her head to push the sensation away as she moved back toward the table. “I have my basic life support and first aid certifications. I volunteer to help with the pee wee hockey games sometimes. And, my dad-” She caught herself rambling and quickly tried to laugh it off with a weak shrug of her shoulders. “Let’s just say I’ve stopped a nose bleed or two in my time.”

Nicole perked an eyebrow at the answer. So maybe Waverly was a little bit of a geek but she still found her completely adorable. She was curious, though, as to what her dad had to do with any of that. Maybe he had played hockey too. It wouldn’t be a surprise. Hockey was to Small Town Canada what football was in America. It was big and when you came from a small town it was almost expected that anyone with any athletic talent played the sport.

Feeling a little awkward at the silence that had settled in once she had cut herself off, Waverly cleared her throat to break it up. She eyed Nicole up and down carefully before she spoke again in a near whisper “Is it worth it?”

Nicole perked her eyebrow again at the question. She slowly let her eyes move up and down Waverly’s form, this time in an attempt to try and read more into the question than what had been presented. After realizing that maybe the question was just purely out of curiosity, she gave a single nod and a slight smile lifted to her lips “So far.”

Waverly liked that answer and it showed as the smile returned to her face. She eyed Nicole over quickly before a realization washed over her. Nicole intrigued her. Waverly had always been a curious person. She wanted to learn as much about everything as she could. She studied history, foreign languages, and anything else she found interesting at the moment. Right now, in this moment, Nicole was what she was finding most interesting. For the first time in her life, though, the curiosity was unnerving her. Her stomach fluttered at the thought.

“Anyway” Waverly shook away the whirlwind in her head and shyly pointed behind her toward the door. “I saw you take the hit and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Nicole realized that something had shifted in Waverly just then. She hoped she hadn’t done or said anything to upset the girl. Not that she could think of anything in that quick exchange but with girls sometimes just a look could change their mood. So instead of pushing she just offered a crooked smile, which looked anything but charming considering she had padding stuffed up her nose, and offered a nod “Well, thanks. I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who gives a shit.”

Waverly frowned as she backed her way toward the doorway. She paused and took one more moment to look Nicole over. The girl, although smiling in that moment, had a sadness about her. It broke Waverly’s heart to see. By all accounts Nicole was a very likeable and pleasant person. She hoped she would start to make friends soon. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“I look forward to it” Nicole offered a weak wave and a smile as the girl left. Once she was alone she let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes at herself. She hopped off the trainer’s table and moved over to the chair where she had placed her shoulder and chest pads once they had been removed by the trainer. She slid her arm through the bulky pads and lifted them with a grunt as her head shook at herself. “Pull it together, Haught.”

She smiled to herself as she carefully walked out of the trainer’s room and toward the locker room. She knew the coaches wouldn’t let her get back on the ice so she decided to once more call it an early day. Maybe she would show up before class again to show her dedication and how well she bounced back from injury. She nodded to herself at the idea. It was a great idea.

As she walked into the locker room she was stopped just inside the door. Her eyes fell to the wall of the room and she immediately groaned out in displeasure. Every article of clothing or hockey gear that she had not had on her when she went to the trainer’s was now taped to the walls of the locker room. Someone had apparently broken into her locker and decided to showcase all of her belongings.

She let out a growl as she threw down her upper body pads and stormed back out of the locker room and toward the rink. She had fire in her eyes as they narrowed on the one person she had no doubt was responsible. Wynonna Earp.

“Earp! Get your ass over here so I can kick it from here to-”

“Woah, slow down killer” Doc, who had been standing at the benches, now wrapped his arm around Nicole’s waist and pulled her back from her approach toward the ice. He stepped between her and the rink and gave his head a shake. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“She got into my shit!” Nicole motioned feverishly over the man’s shoulder toward where Wynonna and a group of her hockey goons were gathered on the ice smirking.

Doc gave a shake of his head, not even looking at the girls Nicole was motioning to, and spoke firmly. “Haught, what are you going to do about it?” He motioned to her face, then to her feet that were only clad in socks, and then the rest of her body which was pretty exposed considering all she had on were her tight under pad spandex and her leg pads. “You step on that ice and you’re going to get your ass clobbered.”

“So tell her to come here” Nicole huffed and pointed to the spot she stood. She then shouted over the man’s shoulder “You hear that, Earp? Get your ass over here. You think you’re so funny, I should-”

“Haught” Doc gave her shoulders a quick jolt to bring her attention back to him. His eyes were calm and his head gave another shake. “You’re making a scene and it’s exactly what she wanted. So take whatever dignity you’ve yet to destroy today and go back to the locker room. Gather your stuff, go home, and come back tomorrow ready to show everyone that you don’t need pranks to prove you’re better than them.”

Nicole opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself. She knew he was right. Wynonna wanted her to react. She wanted her to retaliate. She wanted to piss her off enough that she quit the team. She wouldn’t do that. So she just rolled her eyes and gave the man a soft nod “Thanks, Doc.”

The man offered Nicole a single nod in return and let her go now that he was sure she would not charge onto the ice any longer. He kept his body between her and the ice and gave a motion to the locker room. He watched Nicole finally turn and head back down the long corridor. He waited until she was out of sight before he turned back around and looked at the girls that had been watching the scene unfold. He pointed at Wynonna then shouted out “Everyone line up for suicide sprints courtesy of your captain!”

There was a collective groan from the girls. A few of them made snotty remarks at Wynonna as they passed her up on their way to one end of the ice. Wynonna just smirked as she moved toward the line. It was worth it. Seeing the look on Nicole’s face as she tried to storm the ice was absolutely priceless. Besides, the sprint drills were good for them. It was good cardio and there were a handful of girls on the team that could use a little work in that department. Yep, she had no regrets about her little prank.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

“What happened to not caring about her” Waverly huffed at her sister as soon as she walked out into the parking lot after practice.

Wynonna rolled her eyes and headed for her truck. She tossed her heavy bag off her shoulder into the bed of her truck before turning around to look at Waverly now “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

Waverly huffed out a disbelieving laugh and crossed her arms across her chest “Yeah right and the sky is green.”

Wynonna looked up at the sky now. It was sunset so it was more of a pink and orange hue and she just gave a shrug before looking back to her sister “You’re colorblind, toots.”

“This isn’t funny, Wynonna” Waverly snorted with a stomp of her foot. “You promised me you would leave her alone so you could focus on this season.”

“Yeah, well…” Wynonna stared at her sister for a moment as if trying to think up an excuse. When one didn’t come to her she just shrugged it off and turned away. She moved to her side of the truck and paused to speak now over the bed of the it. “Pranks are part of hockey, Waves. Trust me, I am still totally focused. Now get in.”

“Not until you promise to stop with the bullshit” Waverly huffed and pulled her arms around herself more tightly. 

Wynonna rolled her eyes. She stared at her sister for a moment and when she realized she was serious she just let out a breath of a laugh “Waverly, I’ve pranked every single person on this team at least once. It’s just a way of bringing them into the fold. Initiation and what not. Trust me, if I didn’t prank her you would have something to worry about.”

Waverly rolled her eyes in return and gave her head a shake. Her arms dropped from her chest now and she let out a heavy sigh “Do you ever take anything seriously?”

“I’m seriously freezing my balls off right now” Wynonna grumbled. Her words caused her breath to rise into the air in a cloud from her mouth as she pulled the coat she wore more tightly around herself. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Waverly just gave a shake of her head. She stepped back from the truck and shrugged “I’m going to go to the library. I have a paper due tomorrow. I’ll catch a ride from Jeremy.”

Wynonna’s lip curled at the side because her sister was so annoyingly responsible. She let out a sigh and opened her truck door “Suit yourself.” With that she climbed in and started the truck. She didn’t hesitate to stomp on the gas, sending some rocks flying behind her as she sped out of the lot in a hurry.

Waverly watched until her sister was out of sight. She let out a heavy sigh, which she watched rise into the now dark air, before shaking her head. She didn’t really have to go to the library. She was just so annoyed at her sister that she didn’t want to ride home with her. So instead she would walk to the bus stop and get a ride to Jeremy’s place.

Jeremy was her very best friend in the world. He knew pretty much everything about her. Almost everything. Though he didn’t know the specifics of her home life he knew that it wasn’t always the best place to be. So he was always willing to take her in and let her hang out there until she was ready to go home. Then he would take her home without so much as a complaint about it. Honestly, he was the sweetest person she knew and she felt she would be lost without him.

Just as Waverly zipped her coat up and had started toward the bus stop on the corner she heard her name come from behind her. She whirled around at the unexpected sound because, honestly, it was late and no one should still be at the school.

“Hey” Nicole approached Waverly with a smile. She looked the girl over then gave a little shake of her head. “What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be long gone by now. You must really be dedicated to that story you’re writing about the team.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh and nodded slightly “Something like that, yeah.” She motioned behind her and just shook her head “My ride ditched me so I was just going to catch the bus. No big deal. It happens more than I’d like to admit.”

Nicole frowned at that. She looked up and around the lot only to realize it was dark and a little creepy. Her head shook as she looked back down to Waverly “Firstly, you shouldn’t be walking alone a night. That’s dangerous.”

Waverly puffed out a laugh as a smile took over her features. Nicole’s concern was sweet. “I appreciate your concern but I’ve grown up here. Nothing ever happens in Purgatory. I think the last time anything bad happened here was during the times of high noon shootouts at the saloon.”

Nicole laughed very softly as her head nodded. There was something so completely charming about Waverly. She was sweet and genuine but also seemed to have no fear. Nicole liked that. “Well, at least let me give you a ride?” She finally motioned to her car which was one of the only ones left in the lot. 

“You don’t have to-”

“I insist” Nicole cut off Waverly with a serious nod. She motioned for the girl to follow and once she reached her car she unlocked her truck and tossed her hockey bag inside. She then moved to unlock the doors and climb in. She didn’t hesitate to start her car and immediately crank up the heater. She glanced at Waverly kind of shyly now as she reached her hand out to feel the air coming out of the vent. “It takes a few minutes to get warm, I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t nearly this cold where I grew up.”

Waverly gave a nod and offered a reassuring smile “Really I just appreciate the ride so I won’t complain. Besides…” She motioned vaguely toward the window of the car and shrugged “I’m kind of used to the cold. It’s always cold here.”

“I was afraid of that” Nicole said with a laugh as she put her car into reverse and started to pull out of her spot. Once she was out and heading toward the exit of the lot she glanced at Waverly “Which way am I going?”

“Take a left” Waverly pointed and offered a grateful smile. A quiet fell between them in the car but it wasn’t awkward. It was surprisingly normal. As if they had been sitting together in a car with the heather going at full blast countless times before. It felt completely natural.

But Waverly wasn’t one to ever sit in silence so after a few moments she cleared her throat to speak “What were you doing here so late?”

Nicole rolled her eyes at the question before she grumbled out softly “Wynonna and her goons taped all of my stuff to the locker room walls. It took me an hour to get it all down.”

Waverly nodded at that. She had been in the stands when Nicole had burst out of the locker room trying to fight Wynonna. She hadn’t thought whatever prank her sister had pulled would have taken that long to clean up, though. She let out a sigh and pointed now to the right “Turn here.”

As Nicole followed the instruction, Waverly cleared her throat again. “I’m sorry about that.”

Nicole breathed out a puffed laugh and glanced at Waverly “Why are you apologizing? You had nothing to do with that.”

Waverly just shrugged and let out a soft sigh “I don’t know. I’m just sorry you’re having to go through all of this. You seem like such a nice person.” She pointed again suddenly “Left up there.”

Nicole smiled as she took the left turn. Waverly thought she was nice. She liked knowing that. She gave a nod of her head as her eyes flickered from the road to Waverly for just a moment. “I like to think that I’m a pretty decent person off the ice.”

Waverly smiled now in agreement as she watched a few streets go by. Her eyes slowly drifted over to Nicole and she couldn’t help but stare at her now as she drove. Even in the dim lights that sporadically lit the cab of the car as they drove she could see Nicole’s smile. It was a nice smile. She decided she would do whatever she could from now on to see that smile.

“Oh, shit, turn right there!” Waverly yelled suddenly as she realized she had been so distracted by Nicole that she had forgotten where she was going.

Nicole panicked and cranked the wheel of her car in the direction that Waverly pointed. Luckily she made the turn just in time. Her car skidded around the corner and as she straightened it now in the new direction she was heading she let out a shocked sounding laugh “Shit, girl! You trying to get us killed?”

“I’m sorry!” Waverly bit her lip and sunk into her seat. She felt really bad that she had yelled so suddenly. “I wasn’t paying attention. I forgot you don’t know where you’re going.”

“It’s okay” Nicole breathed out heavily now that her heart rate was dropping back to normal. She reached out and put her hand on Waverly’s shoulder gently. She gave a single pat and laughed very softly “It’s okay. I’m pretty good with directions so I’ll know where I’m going next time.”

“Stop right up here” Waverly pointed to the house where she wanted to be dropped off. Then Nicole’s words hit her and she perked an eyebrow curiously before asking as casually as she could “Next time?”

Nicole smirked as she pulled her car to a stop. She looked up at the house and gave a nod to herself. It looked like a nice house. The typical suburban family house. There were probably two parents, at least two other kids in there, and possibly a dog. That is how typical the house looked. 

Realizing she had not answered Waverly’s inquiry she gave a nonchalant shrug and turned to look at her with a smile “You said your ride ditches you a lot so I figured…” She motioned to her car and then the house and nodded “...probably won’t be the last time.”

Waverly couldn’t fight the smile that came to her lips. It was such a thoughtful gesture. Nicole had essentially just offered her a ride home any time she needed it. She gave a soft shake of her head as she reached to unbuckle her seatbelt “You don’t have to do that.”

“It would be an honor” Nicole said softly as her eyes fixed more seriously on Waverly.

When Waverly looked up and saw the way Nicole was looking at her she felt herself blush. There was such a genuine sense of caring behind Nicole’s gaze. She really believed this girl did not mind giving her a ride whenever she might need it. So she just smiled softly and finally nodded “Well, thank you.”

“No, thank you” Nicole said in a bit of a lighter tone as she watched Waverly push the car door open and climb out.

Waverly paused when she heard the words from Nicole. She perked an eyebrow then bent down to be able to look into the car again. She let out a soft laugh at the girl “What in the world are you thanking me for?”

“For being the first person to be nice to me” Nicole said almost shyly.

It was then in that moment, as Waverly’s eyes locked with Nicole’s, that she once more saw the hint of sadness behind her gaze. She felt her heart twitch at the thought that this seemingly genuinely sweet person had any reason to be sad at all. So she offered her a very soft smile and nodded just once “Honestly, it’s been my pleasure.”

Nicole licked her lips and pushed a smile over her features. She gave a wave to the girl as she closed the door and ran up to the house. When Waverly paused on the doorstep and waved once more, Nicole let out a soft laugh. She returned the second wave then pulled away from the curb. She watched the girl on the porch of the house in her rearview mirror until she turned the corner and the house faded out of sight.

Waverly let out a heavy sigh as Nicole disappeared around the corner. A soft smile came to her lips now. Nicole was growing more and more intriguing by the moment. She had the urge to get to know everything about her. Luckily, she would soon have an excuse for that. Saturday was only a few days away and she was going to take advantage of the interview they had set up.

“I thought that was you” Jeremy broke the silence that Waverly was standing in on his front porch when he opened the door. He smiled at his best friend and let out a laugh “You didn’t tell me you were coming. Get in here, it’s freezing!”

“Sorry. Is this okay? Wynonna left me behind again” Waverly breathed out a soft laugh as she stepped into the house. She was immediately greeted by the warmth and she let out a happy sigh. Jeremy’s house was like a second home to her.

“You know you don’t even have to ask” Jeremy laughed it off then turned away from his friend and yelled “Mom! Waverly is here. Can she stay for dinner?”

“Oh, no, that’s okay” Waverly said with a quick shake of her head. “I should actually get home.”

“Oh okay” Jeremy seemed surprised by the quick visit from his friend. “Why did you come by then?”

“Oh, I….” Waverly motioned behind her to indicate where she had just come from. She just shook her head and bit her lip almost nervously “I got a ride from someone and I didn’t want them to know where I live?”

Jeremy laughed softly at that as he reached for his scarf and coat. He wouldn’t ask why because he figured it had to do with her dad. So instead he turned to call out to his mom again “Nevermind! I’m going to take her home!”

Waverly rolled her eyes in amusement at her friend. He never had a regular conversation with his mom. He was always yelling at her through the house instead of going to find her. It was endearing and one of the many little quirks that made him special to her. She watched him put his feet into his boots before she let out a sigh “Thank you so much. I hope I’m not, you know, interrupting homework or something.”

“Done already” Jeremy waved her off with a smile.

“There you are, darling” Jeremy’s mom appeared now with a smile that matched her son’s on her face. She extended the tupperware of food she had made up for Waverly “Here, since you can’t stay I will send some home with you.”

“Oh you don’t have to-” Waverly stopped herself this time. She realized how often she tried to deflect the kindness of others. Maybe it was because she was polite. Maybe it was because she didn’t think she was deserving. Either way she realized she did it far too often. So instead she nodded and took the container from her “Thank you, Mrs. Chetri. I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

“You are always welcome. Don’t forget that.” The older woman gave Waverly a soft smile and as their eyes met it seemed she was telling the young girl that offer stood any time she needed to get away from whatever was happening at home.

Waverly just bit her lip. Her eyes dropped to the container of food she held and she let out a sigh. She liked to live in denial about what was happening at her house. She pretended no one in town knew. But, it was Purgatory and everyone knew everyone’s business. When her mother had left them everyone knew it was because her father was abusive. No one said anything though because of who he was. In a small town like this the police ran the show. Saying anything against the Sheriff was like a social death sentence. It also didn’t help that all the law makers and people in charge had committed some sort of crime that the Sheriff had covered up at one point or another. So everyone turned a blind eye and pretended that Sheriff Earp was an upstanding citizen because they knew he could blackmail them if they spoke up. It wasn’t fair but it was the way it had always been.

“Ready?” Jeremy asked as he pulled a beanie over his head and grabbed his keys.

Waverly gave a nod and motioned for the boy to lead the way.

The two of them were quiet as they headed to Jeremy’s car and climbed inside. They both stayed quiet as he pulled out and headed toward the Earp Homestead. It was a drive he had made countless times before so he knew the way by heart. He also knew his best friend better than anyone and the fact that they had been able to sit in silence for more than five minutes was concerning. So finally he cleared his throat to break the quiet “So who dropped you off and why didn’t you tell them where you really lived?”

Waverly blushed. She knew she would never get away without explaining herself to Jeremy but she had hoped for the sake of politeness he would never ask. But they had no secrets and it had always been that way. So she relented a sigh and gave her head a shake “The short version is that I think I’m becoming friends with the new girl on the hockey team and I don’t want Wynonna to know.”

Jeremy let out a very soft laugh at that. He knew how fiercely protective Wynonna was of her sister. “This is the new girl that is also Wynonna’s sworn enemy, right?”

“Bingo” Waverly tapped her nose to indicate Jeremy had guessed correctly.

He once more nodded in understanding. He glanced over at Waverly briefly before looking back to the road “What does this new girl think about you being her enemy’s little sister?”

Waverly puffed her cheeks full of air then pushed the air through her lips to cause them to vibrate. She bit at her lower lip guiltily and shook her head “She doesn’t know that Wynonna and I are related.”

Jeremy laughed out at this now. “How in the world doesn’t she know!? Earp is not exactly the world’s most common last name. I know she’s a jock but she can’t be that dumb!”

Waverly gritted her teeth and glanced at Jeremy as she pulled air in through her teeth. She closed one eye and lifted both shoulders to her ears in a guilty shrug “I haven’t exactly told her my last name yet.”

Jeremy breathed out another laugh as he turned into the drive at the Homestead. He gave his head a shake of amusement and glanced at his friend as they came to a stop. “I guess it’s not lying if it hasn’t come up.”

“It hasn’t. She has never asked” Waverly pointed at Jeremy as if he had made a good point.

“Just be careful, Waves” Jeremy said more seriously now. “If they hate each other as bad as you said they do then I don’t want you caught in the crossfire when they both find out. I mean…” He gave a shrug and let out a soft sigh “..we both know Wynonna has an irrational temper when it comes to petty stuff like that. I bet she’s gonna be pissed when she finds out you’re hanging out with her nemesis.”

“I know” Waverly let out a deflating sigh. “That’s why I’m hoping this article I’m writing can help them see each other with a new perspective. Kind of like…” She circled her hand as if trying to conjure her explanation out of the air. When it didn’t come she just let out a defeated breath “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, you know? Maybe if they get to know each other outside of hockey they’ll realize they have more in common than they thought?”

“Do they?” Jeremy asked out of genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know just yet” Waverly admitted with a shrug. “I have an interview set up with her on Saturday. Maybe after that I’ll have more of an idea of who she is. With any luck I can convince Wynonna to at least not hate her.”

“You might have better luck getting pigs to fly” Jeremy said through a muffled laugh.

“No kidding” Waverly agreed with a laugh of her own. She then leaned across the car and kissed Jeremy on the cheek before pushing the door open. “Thank you again so much.”

“No problem!” Jeremy chirped happily. “See you tomorrow!”

Waverly gave a happy wave at her friend as she got out of the car and headed up to her front porch. She waited until he had driven out of sight before she turned and focused on her front door. She was not sure what she was about to walk in on. She was never sure. So instead of trying to guess she just drew in a deep breath to brace herself then pushed the front door open.

She was surprised by what she saw. On the couch was a very bored looking Wynonna with the remote to the tv in her hands. She perked an eyebrow as she closed the door behind her and looked around. After deciding it didn’t seem like their father was there she looked back to her sister with a shrug “Where’s daddy?”

“Dead, hopefully” Wynonna mumbled without looking away from the tv.

Waverly rolled her eyes at the response as she moved across the living room now. She put her backpack on the table near the kitchen then started to remove her coat. “Seriously, though. Where is he?”

Wynonna just shrugged. She glanced at her sister and noticed the container of food she had brought in with her. She got off the couch and headed over to snatch it off the small table “Did Jeremy’s mom make you this?”

“Not me specifically” Waverly mumbled as she hung her coat on the rack in the corner. “But, yes, it’s from his mom.”

“Great cause I’m starving” Wynonna popped the lid off of the container and headed straight to the microwave.

“Knock yourself out…” Waverly said softly as she rolled her eyes. It did not surprise her that Wynonna had hijacked her food. Neither of them really knew how to cook well so when they got real food it never stuck around too long. Wynonna didn’t even complain that the food was ‘weird vegan shit’ whenever Waverly brought home food from Jeremy’s house. That was how much she enjoyed Mrs. Chetri’s cooking.

A silence filled the house as Waverly dug out her homework and Wynonna heated the food. It was a few minutes before anyone spoke again. It was Wynonna who broke the quiet between them when she called for Waverly to come into the kitchen.

Surprisingly, Wynonna had divided the food from the container onto two plates instead of eating it all for herself. It was a small gesture that showed she actually did care about her sister. She motioned to one of the plates that she had set on the table when Waverly came into the room then turned back to the fridge to get herself a soda “So what were you and Jeremy working on today?”

“What?” Waverly perked an eyebrow at the question as she moved to sit at the table. As soon as she smelled the food her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten since lunch. 

Wynonna motioned to the food that had come from Jeremy’s mother as she sat now at the table too.

“Oh” Waverly let out a breath of a laugh and just shook her head. She had forgotten she had refused a ride home under the guise that she had to study. Wynonna had no idea she had been dropped off at Jeremy’s by Nicole. She tried to act natural about it as she poked her food with her fork now “History report.”

“Boring” Wynonna mumbled around the food she had already stuffed in her mouth.

Waverly smiled at her sister and gave a nod of agreement. It was the same answer Wynonna always gave when Waverly told her what school assignment she was working on. It didn’t matter, though. What mattered was that Wynonna kept asking. She kept reminding Waverly that, even if she didn’t always show it, she really did care about her. That’s all that mattered. As long as Wynonna still cared she could deal with all the rest of the drama that was going on. As long as she knew she always had her sister there by her side she knew they’d make it through this in one piece.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	3. #3 - Pierre Pilote

Surprisingly the rest of the week went by without anymore shenanigans from neither Wynonna nor Nicole. They had seemed to be on their best behavior toward one another and it was because of Waverly. Wynonna didn’t want to disappoint her sister for a few days and Nicole wanted Waverly to see her as the nice person she had the impression she was. So the both of them had minded their own business for the rest of the week and gotten through tryouts without anymore incident.

The tryouts on Friday had been let out early so that the coaches could discuss who they wanted to make the team. Everyone packed up their gear and headed home to enjoy the afternoon off. There had been talk about the annual bonfire that night to celebrate those who ended up making the final cut. Nicole didn’t expect to be included in that so when a formal invite was never given to her she wasn’t upset. Even if she did make the team she didn’t really want to go to the event. It seemed like an excuse for teenagers to drink and burn shit and that was not something she was interested in. She had grabbed a flyer about it only to make it look like she cared.

She was the last to leave the locker room with her gear. She hadn’t been in a rush for a few reason. Mostly, she was hoping to catch up with Waverly again. She had been hanging out at all of the tryouts all week. Nicole assumed it was for the article she was writing for the school paper. A part of her liked to think it was because Waverly liked her. She had a bit of an ego and her ego liked attention. Specifically, her ego liked Waverly’s attention.

So when she left the locker room and realized Waverly wasn’t around she was immediately bummed. She had been planning on inviting the girl to hang out while she waited for the coaches to post the final cuts. Not that she was worried about it. She knew she would make the team. But Nicole would make any excuse to spend a little time with the cute girl who had caught her attention.

Since Waverly was not hanging around the rink Nicole decided to sit in her car and do some homework. She would have gone home but that didn’t really sound like fun to her. She didn’t really like to spend a lot of time at her apartment. Not because it was a bad situation, not really, but because there was no real situation at all. Her parents were always gone for work. Always. So it was practically like she lived alone and she hated going home to an empty house.

Nicole let out a sigh as she set the book she was reading through on her dashboard and looked up at the outside doors of the ice rink. She then glanced at her watch and realized the results should be posted by now. She glanced around the parking lot wondering where everyone else was. She had been sure that a few of the younger girls would have lingered about to see if their names had been posted on the final list. It was weird no one else was around.

She didn’t think about it much more than a passing thought as she got out of her car. She would go see if the list was posted before she headed home. If it wasn’t she would just get up early the next morning and come check. She had the entire weekend and nothing better to do so she wasn’t really in any hurry to find out.

As she made her way to the doors of the rink she felt just the smallest bit of nerves start to rise in her stomach. What if, for some reason, Nedley and the other coaches saw the tension between herself and Wynonna and decided it wasn’t worth putting the team through that? What if they decided to cut Nicole and let Wynonna have all the glory since she had earned it? She had been playing in Purgatory her entire life. The town was small and everyone was pretty tight-knit. What if they decided they didn’t want an outsider hanging around the team? Even if Nedley had attempted to recruit her a few times in the past that didn’t mean he was obligated to put her on the team, especially if he thought she was too much of a risk to the team.

She paused a few feet away from the door and shook the thought from her head. In the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter. It would suck if she didn’t make the team but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. She could just focus on something else. Maybe she would take up a new hobby like knitting. Maybe she would try out for the chess team or something. Or maybe she would run away from home and live life as a hermit because life had no meaning any longer.

She shook that thought from her head too. She rolled her eyes at herself and let out a soft sigh “Get it together, Haught.” She finally took the last few steps toward the door and focused her eyes on the paper that had been taped there. She lifted her gloved hand and used her finger to slide up along the list of names in search of her own.

It was in alphabetical order so she easily found her name in the middle of the list. A wave of relief washed over her body as her finger tapped just once over her name. She gave a slight nod as a smile came over her lips. She had been worried for nothing. But, hey, sometimes those with the biggest egos are the most insecure. She would never admit that though. It didn’t matter anyway. All that mattered was that she had made the team.

She hurried back to her car and quickly made her way home. She didn’t live too far from the school, which was nice, because she had plans. She knew she had promised to meet up with Waverly the next day for their interview but maybe, since it was still early evening, she could convince the girl to hang out with her that night. She had the perfect excuse. They had something to celebrate now.

Just inside her apartment door Nicole tossed her bag onto the floor and dropped her keys onto the small table just inside the door. She called out as she unzipped her coat “I’m home!” She didn’t expect a response but her head shook in disappointment anyway. Why did her parents even have a kid if they weren’t going to raise it?

After shedding her coat, beanie, gloves, and scarf she headed to the fridge. She opened it and remembered she had not gone grocery shopping yet. She let out a heavy sigh and pushed the door closed. Looks like it was pizza again. Good thing her parents left her a credit card for such expenses. She rolled her eyes at that. That was literally the least effort they could take in parenting.

Just as Nicole pulled out the pizza menu and her cellphone she paused in her actions. A thought occurred to her and she smiled softly. She tossed the menu onto the kitchen countertop and hurried into her room. She grabbed her laundry basket and dumped it so all her dirty clothes were spread out on the floor. She dug through the pile until she found the jeans she had been wearing the day Waverly had written down her phone number. Her smile grew as she dug her hand into the pocket and pulled the folded paper out. 

She tossed aside the dirty jeans and moved quickly to her laptop at her desk. She sat in the chair there and booted up the computer as she unfolded the paper. When she saw the neat writing of the numbers on the paper she felt her heart flutter. She had gotten plenty of cute girls’ phone numbers over the years but this one was special. This one had been given without her even trying.

Pulling out her phone again she glanced from the paper to her screen and back again as she dialed the numbers. She checked and double checked that she had put it in correctly before she pushed the call button. As she put the phone to her ear she focused on her computer screen, typing a few things into her browser while she waited for an answer at the other end.

Waverly felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She perked an eyebrow and set down her pen in favor of reaching for the phone. She was not expecting a call so she was curious to see who was calling. When she pulled it out and was greeted by a number she didn’t know it only served to pique her interest more. She smiled very slightly and cleared her throat before she answered the phone softly since she was in the library “Hello?”

Nicole immediately smiled when she heard Waverly’s voice. She sat back in her chair now and spun it to the side before returning the greeting “Hey. It’s Nicole.”

A soft smile came to Waverly’s lips now. She gave a single nod in acknowledgment even though Nicole couldn’t see it. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected phone call?”

Nicole bit her lip to fight her smile from growing. She turned back to her laptop and started to type again, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she did so “Well I told you if I made the team you would be the first to know and since I am a woman of honor…” She trailed off as if to allow Waverly to figure out the rest.

Waverly’s smile grew. She reached out and closed the book she had been reading before sitting back in her seat a little more while giving another nod “Well, congratulations. Also, not to say I told you so, but…” She trailed off just like Nicole had just to mock the girl playfully.

Nicole laughed at that. She gave a nod against the phone before grabbing onto it again now that her hand was free from typing. “I guess I deserved that. But just so you know I am not above admitting when I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often, though, so this is a new feeling for me.”

“Oh well then you might not want to hang out with me” Waverly said with a very soft laugh in her tone. “I love pointing out when someone is wrong.”

“A bit of a know-it-all?” Nicole breathed out the words with a laugh. “I guess I will have to get used to it because not hanging out with you is not an option for me.”

Waverly bit her lip as she felt a blush came over her cheeks. She let out the softest laugh that turned into a sigh “I thought we agreed to keep the flirting to a minimum.”

“For the interview” Nicole agreed with a soft laugh. “But this is a totally off the record conversation so there are no rules.”

Waverly shook her head in amusement as a soft smirk came to her lips “You like loopholes don’t you?”

“I like to find creative solutions” Nicole corrected her with a little chuckle. Before Waverly could argue the point further she quickly changed her tone to be a little more serious. She looked at her laptop screen and nodded “So I was hoping you would be up for a celebratory dinner tonight. I was going to grab pizza and thought, hey, why do it alone when there is a cute girl out there who had total faith that I’d end up making the team. The least I can do is say thanks for believing in me, right?”

Waverly’s smile grew at the corners of her lips as her heart did a flip in her chest. She had to admit, Nicole was very smooth. She breathed out a laugh after a brief pause and shook her head against the phone “This phone call and the interview tomorrow are all I need as a thank you. I appreciate the offer but…” She trailed off as her eyes caught sight of Jeremy coming into the library. She gave him a smile and waved at him before going back to her conversation “..I have to study.”

“Perfect. Nothing like studying on a Friday night with some pizza and ice cream” Nicole’s eyes focused on her computer and she read softly before nodding to herself “I can pick up some Gino’s pizza on the way. I hear it is the best in town.”

Waverly shook her head in amusement as her smile stayed small on her lips “I see you’ve learned how to google.”

Nicole bit her lip to fight off the guilty smile that was coming over her features “Well I’ve yet to be offered an official tour of the town so I had to use the resources available to me.”

“How about this…” Waverly pointed at a stack of books when Jeremy sat down. She gave him a gesture to tell him she was going to wrap up the conversation before she got up and walked a few feet away from the table now. “...After the interview tomorrow I can show you around a little bit. Only because I am a nice person and you seem like you need a friend.”

Nicole’s nose crinkled in disliking. She was striking out which was not something she was used to. Usually the girls just fawned all over her. “Can we at least get ice cream?”

“I know a really good place that has vegan options so…” Waverly gave a single shoulder shrug and nodded “...I guess. But only if you are on your best behavior.”

Nicole rolled her eyes but a smile came back to her lips. “You drive a hard bargain. Guess it’s pizza all alone tonight.”

Waverly shook her head now but still smiled “Isn’t there the team bonfire tonight?”

“How did you know about that?” Nicole looked surprised at the suggestion.

Waverly knew about the bonfire because, well, she had grown up there and it was tradition. She also knew about it because her sister was the one in charge of it. But instead of admitting either of those facts she decided to go with the third true statement about how she obtained the knowledge “I am a really good journalist, remember?”

Nicole’s smile returned. She nodded just once into the phone “How could I forget?”

“I have no idea” Waverly said with a sigh. She heard her name from Jeremy and she turned back to look at him. She motioned for him to give her a minute before turning away again. “Look, Nicole, I really do have to go. But, seriously, congrats on making the team. And, for what it’s worth, I really think you should go to the bonfire tonight. It’s your first chance to really bond with your team.”

“Are you one of those girls who goes to every school event just because it’s a school event?” Nicole grumbled softly.

Waverly laughed very lightly and shook her head. She had been a cheerleader last year and was considering trying out again but she didn’t want Nicole to know that. Instead she just shrugged “It’s up to you but I know this season is going to be rough enough. Maybe if you can befriend some of the girls it won’t be too bad.”

Nicole knew Waverly was right but she also hated that Waverly was right. She let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes now “I’ll think about. It would be easier if I had someone to go with me, though…” She smirked because, hey, she had to try.

Waverly smirked too and gave her head another shake “I am neither a member of the team nor am I dating a member of the team so I am not invited.”

“Be my date” Nicole said very plainly as if that were the natural solution to that.

Waverly simply breathed out a laugh into the phone. She then drew in a deep breath and spoke very softly but firmly “I will see you tomorrow, Nicole. Goodnight.”

Nicole smiled to herself as Waverly hung up the phone. She knew she was in the girl’s head and that was all that mattered. She would eventually win her over. If she was even gay. Oh who cared. If nothing else she had someone to shamelessly flirt with for the rest of the year. 

She shook the thought away and turned back to her computer. “What is a vegan?” She said out loud as she typed it into her search bar. She took a few seconds to read the first few lines of the description then gave her head a little shake. “I would starve to death” She mumbled before getting up from her chair and going in search of her backpack.

Once she finally found it she pulled out the little flyer she had taken from the locker room that had the information about the bonfire on it. She looked it over for a moment before letting out a defeated sounding sigh and going back to her computer. She quickly typed in the address and once she was given the map of the location she looked it over for a few moments. She then looked at her watch. She shook her head and sighed before deciding she would think it over. For now, though, she needed to find some dinner. So she pulled up a few local places on yelp and decided which one sounded the least sketchy.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Nicole sat in her car now staring out of her windshield at the huge fire that was burning nearby. She let out a heavy sigh because, frankly, she still wasn’t sure this was a great idea. What made her think that just because she had officially made the team that she would instantly be liked by these girls? She was still the enemy in their eyes and with Wynonna leading the pack she knew befriending anyone on the team would be an uphill battle.

But Waverly was right. She should at least try to make friends. They were all on the same team and sometimes that was enough to form an unexpected bond between people. Rivals had become teammates in the past and been successful. It was only one year of her life. All she had to do was make nice for one year and then she would never have to see Wynonna Earp again. Maybe. The women’s hockey world was a lot smaller than most athletic circles so there was actually a big chance they would be rivals for life.

Shaking the thought away she finally climbed out of her car. The night was freezing and she immediately felt the chill move through her body. She shivered as she pushed her hands into the pockets of her heavy winter coat and headed down the path toward the fire. There were cars parked along the entire path. Apparently this really was a big thing for the team because everyone seemed to be there.

As she reached the end of the path it opened up to a huge clearing. It looked almost like an abandoned agriculture field. There was nothing out there except a whole lot of land and a huge roaring fire. A roaring fire that she could instantly feel the heat from. She was thankful for that.

As she approached the fire she took her hands from her pockets and stretched them out toward the warmth. She had grown up in Canada so she knew how cold it could get but this was ridiculous. Purgatory was the coldest place she had ever been. She had no idea how people lived here. It was small, always cold, and if she was being honest it had a creepy vibe to it. She already couldn’t wait to move away after graduation.

Wynonna, who had her truck backed up near the fire, noticed Nicole’s arrival. She perked an eyebrow at the girl and watched from where she sat on the top of her truck chatting with a few other teammates. She had to admit she was surprised Nicole had the balls to show up. It was unexpected and, quite frankly, gave Wynonna a little bit of respect for the girl.

She hopped down after a moment and after landing on the cold ground with a thud she made her way over to where Nicole stood. She looked the girl up and down curiously, almost like she thought she might be up to no good, before she finally caught her eye. When their eyes met she offered a slight smile “I didn’t think you’d show up, Haught.”

“It’s a team building event and I am part of the team” Nicole said blandly as her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Besides…” She glanced at Wynonna and sighed out softly “I didn’t have anything else to do tonight.”

Wynonna snorted out a laugh then looked at the fire. She was quiet for a moment before she glanced back at Nicole “There isn’t a lot to do here so something like this tends to be the best option. Gives us teenagers a chance to let loose.”

Just then one of the other senior girls came stumbling by. She bumped in Nicole, mostly by accident because of her intoxicated state, before giving her a glare. She then looked at Wynonna and motioned to Nicole with her hand that also held a beer bottle “Why is she here?”

“She has every right to be. She earned her spot just like you” Wynonna rolled her eyes at the girl. She then reached out and took the beer from her in a quick snatching motion. “And you’ve definitely already had enough.”

“Give that back!” The girl howled out and reached for the beer. When Wynonna pulled it out of her reach the girl stumbled forward and nearly fell face first into the fire. Luckily Nicole had good reflexes and had reached out to catch her before that could happen. When the girl realized what had just taken place she pushed out of Nicole’s arms and gave her a growl “Don’t ever touch me again, outsider.” The girl then stormed off as she cackled at herself.

Nicole lifted her hands up in a motion of surrender and watched the girl stumble away. She waited until she was gone before dropping her hands and letting out a sigh “Yep, I am so glad I came.” She looked at Wynonna now then dropped her head and turned her attention back to the fire.

Wynonna rolled her eyes because she was feeling something she did not necessarily like feeling. She was actually feeling bad for Nicole. She could tell the girl was not happy about how she was being treated and, yes, a lot of that had to do with Wynonna and that is probably what made her feel the worst about it. Stupid Waverly’s voice of reason had somehow gotten through to her. Slightly.

After a moment she grunted and tossed the confiscated beer into the fire before turning to Nicole “Look, man, we are teammates now and I don’t know if that means anything to you but it means something to me. My teammates are family to me, alright? Just like family, you don’t always gotta get along, but you always gotta have each other’s back. So…” She let out a sigh before bringing her hand down to land a heavy slap to Nicole’s back “...I’ll try, okay?”

It was a surprise to hear Wynonna being so adamant about the team acting like a family. It was even more of a surprise that Wynonna was, kind of, reaching out an olive branch of peace. Nicole eyed her up and down for a few seconds to see if she was lying. When she seemed to be genuine, Nicole nodding “I’ll try, too.” 

A small smile flickered at the corners of Wynonna’s lips. It was momentary but it did happen. That seemed to be all the two of them could handle at the moment, though, because almost immediately the smile was gone and Wynonna was motioning to a cooler near one of the other trucks parked nearby “So help yourself to a beer and try to have some fun.”

“No thanks” Nicole waved the offer off. 

“No?” Wynonna seemed surprised. Every teenager she had ever met took the chance to get drunk when it was offered to them. 

Nicole just shook her head and focused her eyes back on the fire. “Call me lame or whatever but my hockey career is way too important to risk by doing something stupid like getting caught drinking underage.”

Wynonna gave a single nod of her head. She eyed Nicole carefully, again trying to see if she was being sincere, before she let out a huff of a sigh. “Yeah, man, I hear you. Besides…” She motioned somewhere behind herself and shrugged “The sheriff of this town is a real dick. He has it out for me and would love any excuse to throw me behind bars. So…” She lifted the plastic water bottle she had tucked in her coat pocket and gave it a shake before nodding.

Nicole smiled just slightly at that. So Wynonna did actually care about herself and her career. That was nice to know. She had always just imagined Wynonna was an arrogant ass who used hockey to beat the shit out of people. It was good to know she had a good head on her shoulders, too.

“I’m gonna go. I think someone is throwing up” Wynonna motioned again behind herself and started to back away. “But have a good time, Haught.”

“Yeah. You too” Nicole said as she gave a slight wave of her hand. She watched Wynonna until she disappeared then gave her head a shake of disbelief. She had just had a civil conversation with Wynonna Earp. Maybe Hell was freezing over. In fact, she knew it was freezing over because she was literally standing in a town whose name was synonymous with Hell and it was fucking frigid. She smirked at herself as she thought about it. She was so damn funny.

She stood there near the fire for a few moments, letting her eyes wander around, taking in everything that was going on around her. It seemed like most of the girls from the team were already drunk. Half of them were making out with someone from the boy’s hockey team. She rolled her eyes at that. How was she supposed to make friends with sloppy drunken girls who just wanted to grope a dude.

Suddenly she jolted forward a bit as someone behind her landed a kick straight to her ass. She whirled around quickly, fire in her eyes, ready to yell. She was greeted by one of the younger girls on the team smirking at her. “Hey man, what the Hell?”

The girl just shrugged and ran off.

Nicole just shook her head and turned back to the fire. She was beginning to think making friends with these girls was going to be impossible. They all just wanted to have Wynonna on their side and the best way to do that was to pick on Nicole.

A few moments later she felt another kick to her ass. Again she whirled around but the girl who had landed the blow had already run off laughing. Nicole let out a sigh and reached around to rub at the spot that had been kicked. Her ass was cold so being kicked was particularly painful at the moment.

Just as her hand move away from rubbing where she had been kicked she felt another blow land in the exact same spot. She whipped around quickly and grabbed a hold of the arm that belonged to the offender. She growled and tugged fiercely “Listen here you little shit I don’t care if-”

Another kick landed on her ass. This time she turned around swinging her fist in hopes of landing a punch to whoever had just kicked her.

Wynonna quickly ducked under the incoming fist. She then popped up and gave Nicole a wide smile after she regained her balance from the missed punch. She held her hands up in a motion to stop Nicole from swinging again before letting out a laugh “Calm down there, Haught. They were just following directions.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nicole’s chest heaved as she drew in deep breaths to try and calm the anger that was raging through her.

She felt someone behind her give a quick tug to her coat. The girl then stepped around her, gave her a smirk, and offered out a small post-it note to Wynonna. With a smirk of her own, Wynonna took the note and looked at it. She then turned it so Nicole could read it as her face lit with amusement.

“Kick me” Nicole read the post-it as a defeated sigh came from her lips. She looked at the group of people who had now surrounded her at the commotion and gave her head a shake “Real mature.”

“I said I’d try” Wynonna said with a weak attempt at a shrug. “I did not try very hard, obviously.” Her smirk grew with smug triumph as she waved the post-it back and forth to indicate it had been her that had stuck it on Nicole’s back.

Nicole just shook her head. She glared at Wynonna for a moment before finally letting out a heavy sigh. “You just messed with the wrong girl” She barked the words before turning and pushing herself through the crowd of people. She was seething with rage. If it had been a one on one situation she would have thrown down right then and there with Wynonna. Unfortunately she knew she had no chance of winning a brawl with the entire team there to defend their precious captain. She was also a horrible fighter and did not want to embarrass herself in front of everyone.

So she stormed toward her car. She would wait for her revenge. She would do it in a smart way. She would watch Wynonna, get to know her, and then strike her in a way that was crippling. Not physically because she did need her on the team. But emotionally. She would expose Wynonna’s deepest shame for all to see.

Her thoughts of vengeance faded with the sudden appearance of red and blue lights. She froze halfway up the path toward her car. She had done nothing wrong and yet she was suddenly petrified. The entire parking area was now surrounded by cop cars.

“Nobody move!” A booming voice broke out over a loudspeaker from one of the cars. Of course this immediately caused all of the underaged kids to take off running in all directions because they were intoxicated and did not want to be caught.

Nicole stood frozen. She watched all of her teammates and the hockey boys all taking off. She didn’t move though. If she got caught she had nothing to worry about because she had not been drinking. So she stood perfectly still and just waited.

The man that had shouted into the loudspeaker now emerged from his car. Nicole could immediately see this was the Sheriff. Her eyes went wide at that. Either the Purgatory Police Department had nothing else to do on a Friday night or this was a really big priority for them. It was probably a mixture of both, honestly.

The Sheriff marched right up to Wynonna’s truck. She was sitting on the back of it, arms folded, eyes on the man. It was very clear just by the look in her eyes that these two were very familiar with each other. It made Nicole wonder how many times Wynonna had been in trouble with the police.

“Get your ass down” The Sheriff barked.

Wynonna rolled her eyes as she hopped off the side of her truck. She lifted her hands as if mocking the man and gave a single shoulder shrug “I was minding my own business.”

“Watch your mouth” The man walked around the back of Wynonna and gave her a little shove as he motioned to the cab of her truck. “If that breathalizer detects one ounce of alcohol on your breath I swear to god, I’ll-”

“What?” Wynonna turned and growled at the man. “Gonna arrest me? Isn’t that a little hypocritical of you?”

“Don’t you dare back talk me” The man lifted his hand as if he were threatening to backhand Wynonna across the face.

Wynonna just snorted out a laugh. “Do it, I dare you.”

Nicole could see rage filling the man’s face. He dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes at her before pointing once more to the cab of her truck. “I will deal with you at home. Now get.”

“Now get” Wynonna mocked the man’s words as she reached into her pocket for her keys. She climbed into her truck and started it up without hesitation. She immediately put it into drive and sped away, causing a spray of dirt and rocks to fly out behind her.

The Sheriff shielded himself from the onslaught of rocks and dirt. Once Wynonna was out of sight he turned and marched back up toward his car. That is when he noticed Nicole was still standing there frozen. He paused, looked her up and down, then gave a shake of his head “Who the Hell are you?”

“Nicole Haught. I’m new to the team. I was just leaving and-”

“Get out of here. And my advice to you?” He pointed at her firmly now and gave a single twitch of his head “Stay away from Wynonna. She’s bad news.”

Nicole just nodded and quickly turned away from him. She ran the rest of the way to her car. She had barely gotten it started before she was pulling out of the parking lot area as fast as she could. Her heart was racing as she watched the red and blue lights on the cop cars fade out behind her in her rearview mirror. Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong she was terrified of getting in trouble. The last thing she wanted was for a college not to offer her a scholarship because she had one run in with the cops.

Her mind was racing as she drove home. As she thought about what had just unfolded she was taken back to what the Sheriff had said. He said he would deal with Wynonna at home. Did that mean that the Sheriff was Wynonna’s dad? She blinked a few times and gave her head a shake as she tried to process the information. It didn’t make sense. Why would Wynonna say the Sheriff had it out of her if he was her dad?

As soon as she got home she rushed into her room and opened her laptop. She did a quick search for the Sheriff of Purgatory and sure enough her suspicions were confirmed. Ward Earp was his name. She could not believe that Wynonna’s dad was the Sheriff. For whatever reason that knowledge just didn’t sit right with Nicole. She wondered if Wynonna acted like she did on the hockey team because she knew her dad would have her back if any real trouble came about. 

But if that was the case why would the man warn her to stay away from Wynonna? Not only to stay away but to go as far as telling her that Wynonna was bad news? That didn’t sound like something a loving father would say about his daughter. Perhaps Wynonna took advantage of the fact that her dad was a cop and did everything she could to push the limits. That sounded like something she would do. How far could she take it before really getting into trouble? This worried Nicole. If that was Wynonna’s mindset then there was really no way to tell just how far she would push Nicole on the team just to see if she could get Nicole to give up.

Nicole shook her head at that thought. If that was Wynonna’s endgame then she would be sure not to give Wynonna the satisfaction of winning. Nope. Now every time Wynonna pushed, Nicole was going to push back harder. No one got away with pushing Nicole Haught around, not even the Sheriff’s daughter.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Daddy, stop!” Waverly had just been dropped off by Jeremy and walked into the Homestead to find her father and Wynonna engaged in one of their usual screaming matches. He had just shoved her into the bookshelf in the living room and had his hand raised to strike when Waverly shouted at him.

He glanced over his shoulder and when he saw his youngest in the room he blinked in surprise. It was almost like he had forgotten she existed for a few minutes. He gave his head a shake and in a tone that was calm and even he spoke to her “This is none of your business, Waverly. Your sister and I are just discussing her behavior tonight.”

“I didn’t do shit!” Wynonna shouted and pushed the man away from her now that his focus was on Waverly. “You’re just pissed you didn’t catch me doing anything wrong.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that” Ward hollered. In a blink of an eye his hand swung down and across Wynonna’s face. 

This caused Wynonna to stumble sideways and into a nearby wall. She immediately grabbed her face where he had hit her and closed her eyes. The wedding band he still wore had most definitely cut her.

“STOP!” Waverly ran over now and put herself between her sister and father. Her father had never hit her. That was mostly because Wynonna always stepped in to take the brunt of the beatings. She was terrified to think what might have happened if Wynonna had not been there to protect her all these years. She was terrified of the man she was now huddled in front of as she wrapped a protective arm around her sister. But she had to do something. She couldn’t just stand there and watch him beat Wynonna senseless.

The man seemed surprised again. Waverly had never stood up to him. She had always cowered behind Wynonna’s protection. He slowly lowered his hand and stiffened where he stood. He took a moment to let his eyes examine the scene in front of him. His two daughters were huddled together on the floor in fear. Suddenly, as if that part of him that was instilled by nature to protect his young was still intact, he stepped away. He shook his head and pointed to the stairway nearby “Go do your homework. If I hear one peep out of you two…” He trailed off because, well, even if he regularly beat his children, he was too much of a coward to speak it out loud.

“Come on” Waverly whispered to Wynonna as her arms scooped under both of her sister’s arms and pulled her to her feet. She kept one arm around her protectively as she guided her to the stairs. 

Neither of them spoke until they were safely in Wynonna’s room. With the door closed and locked behind them Waverly rushed over to where her sister sat on the bed. She let out a sigh as she knelt down, sliding her backpack from her back, and lifting her hands to inspect Wynonna’s face.

“That was fucking stupid, babygirl” Wynonna mumbled. She then winced as Waverly touched gently at her cut cheek and quickly swelling eye.

“I wasn’t going to stand around and let you be a punching bag” Waverly said with a shake of her head. She dug into her backpack now and pulled out the small first aid kit she kept in there for situations such as this. If she ventured out to the bathroom to get bandages and the like she knew her father would stop her. So she had bought a kit a year ago and carried it with her everywhere.

“The day he hits you is the day I fucking kill him” Wynonna hissed out with a shake of her head. The pain was already starting to fade. Maybe it was because she was used to it. She took full body checks every day on the ice. A little back hand across the face was nothing.

“Let’s hope we get out of here before that happens. Hold still…” Waverly lifted a gauze and some ointment to Wynonna’s face now. When she winced again, Waverly bit her lip and gave her sister an apologetic look. She was more careful the second time she touched the wound and when no more protest came from her sister she worked in silence to patch her up. 

Neither of them talked now. They both just sat there with their thoughts, both hoping beyond hope that one day they could leave this situation and never return. Maybe one day someone would stop being a chicken shit and do something to help them. Unfortunately the Sheriff was friends with all the influential people in Purgatory. They all greased each other’s palms to keep each other quiet. There was a corrupt ring of adults running the town and anyone who spoke up about it would be immediately ostracized. Too bad reputation meant more to people than the well being of a few kids in this town because the Earp girls could really use someone in their corner.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	4. #4 - Bobby Orr

It was finally Saturday morning and Nicole was too excited to sleep in. Her unease about the night before and discovering that the Sheriff was Wynonna’s father had faded by the time she woke up. All she cared about now was the fact that she had a date with Waverly. Okay, so it was technically a meeting to conduct an interview for the school paper but it was a start. Besides, Waverly had promised to take her on a tour after the interview and that was pretty much an unofficial date in her mind. Either way Nicole was looking forward to seeing Waverly again.

She had gotten up as soon as the sun had risen in the sky. That wasn’t unusual for her. She had been getting up early for years. She usually got a light run or workout in before school but lately she had been forced to head to the ice rink early as punishment for her and Wynonna’s inability to get along. She honestly didn’t care though. She liked getting up early and actually doing something with herself. The word lazy was not something she understood. She couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.

After her morning run she had made a quick trip to the grocery store. She needed to buy something to eat because, even for an athlete, the high calorie junk food she was eating was not good. She didn’t really know how to cook but she figured if she could follow instructions from a coach she could read a recipe. So she filled her cart with things she liked then headed home to put them away.

After confirming the time with Waverly she had spent the rest of the morning working on various things. She wanted to make a list of things she wanted to see in Purgatory. It was a tactic to spend as much time with the girl as possible. She wanted to impress her. She wanted Waverly to like her. She was pulling out all the stops to try and get Waverly to keep wanting to hang out after their interview was over. 

It had been a while since a girl had caught her attention like this. Actually she wasn’t sure a girl had ever drawn her in as quickly and completely as Waverly had. There was something about the girl that just penetrated Nicole’s being. She wanted to simply be around her and feed off her intoxicating energy. So she would do what she could to make sure Waverly felt the same.

As time for their interview drew close, Nicole packed up her things and headed out. They agreed to meet at the library since it was neutral ground and they could both feel comfortable there. It was probably a more appropriate place to meet for an interview anyway. Plus Nicole had yet to find the town library so she was wanting to get a tour of it after the interview was done.

Nicole was early but she decided to go inside because, well, why not. If Waverly wasn’t there she could be in charge of picking their interview spot. She would make sure to get the most secluded table she could find. You know, for privacy. So she grabbed the coffee she had made for herself and the small container of food she had brought and headed inside.

To her surprise Waverly was already inside. She flagged Nicole down almost immediately. She greeted her with a huge smile and excited wave as she got up from the table she was already set up at and made her way over toward Nicole. When they drew within speaking distance her smile held as she spoke “You’re early!”

Nicole let out a soft laugh and nodded slightly “I usually am and yet…” She motioned to the table Waverly had come from and shook her head in amusement “...you somehow beat me to it.”

“Oh I’ve been here for hours” Waverly waved her off then motioned for Nicole to follow as they headed back toward the table.

“Hours?” Nicole laughed out softly and followed the shorter girl. “Then why didn’t we set up an earlier time for the interview so you didn’t have to wait around?”

“Oh I’ve been plenty busy today” Waverly glanced over her shoulder and offered a soft smile “You aren’t the only one I’ve interviewed for the story.”

That surprised Nicole for some reason. Her ego wasn’t so large that she just assumed she was the only person Waverly had spoken to and yet she had also assumed that the story was only about her. She shook her head at herself and as they reached the table she offered Waverly a smile “So what is this story about, exactly?”

“You” Waverly said with a casual shrug before motioning for Nicole to take a seat across from her before she settled into her own chair. “And Wynonna” She said a little more softly as her eyes shifted from Nicole to the notebook in front of her now. She ran her hand over the fresh page that was awaiting her note taking before she looked back up to Nicole “Rivals becoming teammates.”

“Gotcha” Nicole said with a slight nod as she sat down. She set her cup of coffee down then put the small tupperware that held food next to her cup. She gave Waverly a sideways smile and tapped the lid of the container before pushing it toward her “I wasn’t sure if you’d gotten a chance to eat this morning so I went totally out of my way and attempted to make you a vegan-friendly muffin…” She shrugged and her eyes fell shyly away from Waverly’s surprised gaze.

Waverly was totally shocked. The gesture was so thoughtful. It was unnecessary and unexpected and she was completely humbled by it. She smiled very softly and reached for the container as her eyes lifted to Nicole “You made me a muffin?”

Nicole shrugged as if it were no big deal as her eyes dared look up now. When she saw the smile on Waverly’s face she couldn’t help her own lips twitching up at the corners. She had been nervous because she didn’t know how the gesture would be received. But Waverly seemed at least grateful for it so that helped put her worries to ease “I wasn’t really sure what the Hell vegan was but I looked up a few recipes online and it seemed easy enough so…” She gestured to the container as if making her point.

“It’s really sweet” Waverly said softly as she felt a light blush creep into her cheek. Honestly, no one had ever done something so nice for her. Well, Jeremy did nice things like that for her but they had been friends most of their life. Nicole barely knew her yet had attempted something thoughtful like this? To say she was pleasantly surprised by it was an understatement. The gesture just added another layer of intrigue for her.

“You might want to taste it before you thank me” Nicole offered with a laugh as she reached for her coffee.

Waverly’s smile faded a little as she opened the container and looked at the muffin. It looked edible. It didn’t smell funky. She poked it and it was soft. She shrugged and glanced at Nicole again with her smile returning “It looks alright to me.”

“Yeah, well, it tasted funky when I tried one at home. I wasn’t sure if that was because of the weird flour or the fact that I can’t bake so…” Nicole motioned to the muffin then let out a soft laugh. “If it’s gross I won’t be offended.”

“I’m sure it’s lovely” Waverly assured Nicole as she ripped off a small piece. She put it in her mouth and smiled at the girl as she chewed. Her teeth had smashed the bite only four times before she stopped. Her eyes narrowed and it was easy to tell she was processing exactly what it was that she was tasting. After a moment of analysis she grabbed the container from the table, turned her back to Nicole, and spit the bite out. She then turned back shyly and snapped the lid back into place as she gave a shrug “Well, really, it’s the thought that counts.”

Nicole groaned loudly. She put a hand over her face and hung her head in shame. She could feel herself blushing. She was not use to failing. She was also really embarrassed that Waverly had put her disgusting cooking in her mouth and tried to be polite about the fact that it was gross. She shook her head and let out a weak laugh before looking across the table again. She bit her lip and let out a heavy sigh “The next time I cook for you it will be better. I promise.”

“The next time?” Waverly perked an eyebrow curiously at the notion. For some reason she liked the idea that Nicole was already counting on a time where she got to cook for her. 

Nicole smirked slightly and lifted a single shoulder in a shrug now. Her eyes danced over Waverly’s features and after a moment she nodded. “Next time” She repeated with more confidence this time.

Waverly felt herself blush. She rolled her eyes at herself and started to shake her head. Her eyes dropped to all the papers and notebooks in front of her. She shuffled a few things around then cleared her throat “Anyway let’s get down to business, shall we?” She looked back up and offered Nicole a soft smile “Do you mind if I record this? It’s easier than taking notes sometimes. I can go back and double check quotes and stuff like that.”

“Do whatever you need” Nicole motioned to the small recorder that Waverly held now and offered a soft smile. “Whatever is going to help make this the best article you’ve ever written.”

Waverly glanced up and gave Nicole a smile of thanks before looking back at the recorder. She pushed the buttons to start it before setting it down gently. She then picked up her pen and scooted her notebook closer to herself. She cleared her throat and looked back up at Nicole with a nod “Okay, Nicole, tell me a little bit about how you got started in hockey.”

Nicole smiled very softly because Waverly had sounded so official and it was adorable. She gave a nod to acknowledge the question before clearing her throat and giving her answer “I was seven. My school had taken a trip to go ice skating one day. My parents were late picking me up from the rink…” She rolled her eyes at the statement in a way of silently telling Waverly that her parents were always late picking her up from things. “...So I sat in the stands with my teacher waiting. The local high school team had started their practice and…” She smiled very fondly at the memory now as her head gave a single nod “...there was something about the speed and energy of hockey that drew me in. I went home that night and told my parents I wanted to learn to play.”

“So you knew really young what you wanted to do in life?” Waverly seemed impressed as she jotted notes without looking away from Nicole.

“I didn’t really know that I wanted to dedicate my life to hockey yet” Nicole said with a soft laugh. “It wasn’t until about a year later when I was finally allowed to play competitively that I realized how good I was. At least, my coaches kept saying I was good. I was eight, I thought the fact that I didn’t fall on the ice meant I was good.” 

Waverly let out a soft laugh as well. “Well I’d say at that age most kids can’t get through a game without falling so you were probably right in thinking that.” She looked down at her notebook and finished what she was writing. She then looked up at Nicole, a smile still on her lips, before continuing on with the questions she had pre-written “The rivalry between you and Wynonna is well-known throughout the hockey world here in small town Canada. How did it feel going into those games where you got to play one another?”

Nicole just shook her head as her smile faded a bit. Her brows creased as she thought over her response for a moment before finally speaking in a more serious tone “I’ve played on the best teams in youth hockey and I never felt any pressure to perform. I knew what I had to do and I went out there and did it. But going into a game where I knew everyone had expectations…” She trailed off and glanced up now, shrugging slightly “There was an energy before those games. A nervous energy. Not because I didn’t think I could do well but because I knew the entire crowd was going to have an opinion. Most of them would be out there just waiting for Wynonna and I to clash, you know? I almost felt like if we didn’t have a go at one another than I would be disappointing people and that is, by far, the worst feeling in the world. The feeling that I disappointed people who were counting on me.”

Waverly frowned just slightly at the answer. She could see in Nicole’s eyes that her rivalry with Wynonna was something Nicole did not enjoy. She gave her head a little shake and sighed out softly “So you felt forced into playing at this rivalry that people had built between you just because you and Wynonna were the two best young players in the area?”

Nicole gave a flinch of a shrug “When I think of rivalry I think of two players or teams who compete so fiercely every time they go against each other that it brings out the best in them, you know? Takes the competition to an entirely new level. But this…” She motioned vaguely at nothing but was speaking of her rivalry with Wynonna “....it felt like it brought the worst out in me. Maybe in her, too. I don’t think anyone likes being expected to be malicious toward someone who is just out there doing their best.”

“So you have no ill-will toward her?” Waverly perked an eyebrow at her own question. It had not been one she had written before the interview. It was more out of her own curiosity than anything else.

Nicole breathed out a sigh of a laugh and shook her head “She has nearly ended my playing career twice. I’m not saying I’ve been completely innocent here but it is hard not to feel some sort of ill-will toward someone who has nearly taken away your ability to do what you love.”

Waverly nodded slightly and reached for the recorder. She stopped it and looked up at Nicole with a little bit of a frown on her lips. “I’m sorry. I don’t have to use that last question. That was a spur of the moment thing.”

“It’s fine” Nicole pushed a smile onto her lips but it didn’t really look genuine. “I know people want to hear the ugly details. But I’m also not going to talk bad about her.”

Waverly nodded again. She was about to start to recorder again when Nicole reached out to stop her.

When Waverly looked up at her surprised, Nicole spoke very softly “Totally off-topic and you don’t have to answer but…” Her hand slid slowly away from where she had covered Waverly’s and she shrugged again “How well do you know Wynonna?”

That was a loaded, and unexpected, question. Waverly’s face said as much as her eyes got wide. She looked surprised for a moment before her eyes dropped to her hands. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was nervous to tell Nicole that Wynonna was her sister. She thought, for some reason, it would make the girl like her less. “Uh, I know her pretty well, actually. She’s-”

“Because I found out last night she’s the Sheriff’s daughter and that got me thinking…” Nicole cut Waverly off. Not on purpose, per se, but because her mind was racing and she wanted to get her thoughts out before they faded away again. “Does she act like she does because she thinks she can get away with anything she wants? Like if she got into any real trouble her dad would just come bail her out and make it go away?”

Waverly huffed out at that and shook her head quickly. Her father would absolutely not get Wynonna out of any bad situation. Ever. In fact he would make her deal with it by herself. “No, I don’t think that’s why she acts that way.”

“Then again” Nicole kept talking now, not even acknowledging Waverly’s response “I met him at the bonfire and he warned me to stay away from her. Said she was no good” Her eyes focused on Waverly now and shrugged “Do you know what that is all about? Has she been in trouble before?”

Had Wynonna ever been in trouble? The question was almost laughable. Wynonna was born to make trouble. But she had never done anything to really piss her father off in years because, well, she knew he would beat her senseless and warn her that it would be twice as bad if he ever had to beat her again. 

Waverly shook off the thought and reached out now. She took hold of Nicole’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes narrowed to focus on Nicole and she spoke softly “Why are you so worried about Wynonna all of the sudden? I mean, yeah, she’s mean on the ice but she would never do anything to truly hurt anyone.”

The concern in Waverly’s eyes surprised Nicole. She wasn’t sure if it was concern for her worries or concern for Wynonna. She stared at Waverly in confusion for a few moments before finally shaking her head and using her hand to wave away the notion “I don’t know. I guess I got freaked out. What if, I don’t know, she pulled a prank on me and so I retaliated and it went too far and she called her dad on me?” She shrugged and sat back in her chair now, pulling her hand out of Waverly’s as she did so, and folded her arms across her chest. “Colleges check criminal records when they give out athletic scholarships.”

“Trust me” Waverly said as soothingly as possible as her head shook slightly “Wynonna fights her own battles. She’s not a tattletale. But…” She shrugged now and reached for her recorder again. She glanced at Nicole and her eyes held an almost pleading look in them now “...maybe you should be the bigger person and just rise above her pranks.”

Nicole wanted to argue. That bite that you needed to play hockey, that aggression you had to have to be tough enough to stand the physicality of the game, rose in her in that moment. She wanted to fight and defend herself. But the way Waverly looked at her told her not to fight. The look in Waverly’s eyes told her that there was more to her own story than she was letting on. She didn’t know why but in that moment she thought that maybe Waverly and Wynonna were closer than Nicole knew.

Waverly didn’t let it linger. Always one to stay on course she cleared her throat and turned on her recorder again. She then looked down at her list of pre-written questions to find where they had left off. Once she found her place she looked up to Nicole with a smile “Shall we push forward?”

“Yeah” Nicole mumbled and motioned with her hand for Waverly to go ahead with the next question. She would do her best to get through the interview but her mind was racing more now than it had been before. There was a story here. There was something going on and Waverly knew all about it. It got Nicole thinking. Why was everyone she had come across so high on Wynonna? They all defended her. What was so special about this girl? She decided in that moment she was going to dig deep and figure out why everyone in Purgatory was content to allow Wynonna Earp run the show.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“And this is Shorty’s” Waverly stopped in front of the local bar that was also the most popular destination in town. She lifted her hand in a motion like she was displaying the sign above her before she shrugged and let her arm fall. She offered Nicole a smile now then reached for the spoon that was stuck in her vegan frozen yogurt they had picked up “That pretty much concludes the town tour.”

Nicole looked up at the sign before shaking her head and letting out a soft laugh “The town bar is your piece de resistance?” She looked back to Waverly now with a look on her face that told her she was far from impressed “This town is sad.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh and shrugged again “This town is small, old, and quaint. Not much has changed since it was first built. Nothing much happens here. It’s kind of a what you see is what you get type of deal.”

“Sad” Nicole repeated her assessment from before as she looked into her dish of ice cream. It had melted long ago but she had held onto it so that she had something to keep her hands busy. She would be far too tempted to try and hold Waverly’s hand if her own hands were empty. “At least in my small town we did things like running with the local bulls and hog tying tournaments.”

“Really?” Waverly perked an interested eyebrow at that.

Nicole shrugged and offered a slight smile “It is a very redneck farming town where there wasn’t much else to do. That’s why I chose hockey. So I could get out of there.”

“And you did” Waverly motioned to Nicole and the spot where she stood. She let out a soft laugh at that “I bet you never thought you’d get out of one small town only to end up in another one.”

Nicole rolled her eyes but smirked in amusement. She was learning that Waverly had a great sense of humor. She shook her head slightly and laughed very gently “I meant college and, you know, maybe the big leagues after that.”

“I know what you meant” Waverly’s smile faded slightly. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t” Nicole shook her head as her eyes dropped away from Waverly now. Her gaze shifted around them until she found a trash can nearby. She moved the few feet away to empty her hands of her ice cream cup before pushing her hands into her pockets and making her way back to Waverly. She offered her a soft smile and shrugged until her shoulders touched her ears “So now that we’ve completed the tour I guess that means you have somewhere else you have to be?”

Waverly perked an eyebrow at the sudden change in Nicole’s demeanor. She eyed her very carefully before finally looking back at her vegan frozen yogurt and giving her head a shake “Not particularly. I have to meet up with Jeremy to study later but-”

“Jeremy?” Nicole looked a little surprised at the mention of someone she didn’t know. Well, she didn’t know most people. But this was someone she had never heard of from Waverly. She tilted her head to the side and eyed the girl curiously now “Is that your, like, boyfriend?”

Waverly couldn’t help the laugh that came from her lips at that. It was almost a ridiculous thought. She forgot that Nicole was still new to town and didn’t know everyone. As her laugh died down she looked at Nicole with pure amusement as she breathed out her answer “No, sweetie, he’s my very gay best friend.”

“Oh” Nicole felt dumb. Her face dropped and her head shook as she tried to breathe out a laugh now “That’s cool. I mean, I don’t even know who he is but having a gay best friend is cool.” Her brow creased when she realized what she had just said. It had sounded like she didn’t like gay people but was trying to play it cool cause Waverly had a gay friend which didn’t make sense considering she was gay herself. She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes at herself “And I have no idea why I said that.”

Waverly let out the softest giggle at what was unfolding. She couldn’t be sure but it seemed like Nicole was nervous at the moment. She moved a little closer to the girl now and reached out to place her hand on Nicole’s shoulder “It is very cool having a gay best friend. Also, relax.” She rubbed very lightly up and down Nicole’s arm as she tried to soothe her nerves. 

Nicole’s eyes fluttered as she caught Waverly’s caring and nurturing gaze on her. She felt her heart twist a bit in her chest at the way she touched her so softly. She barely knew this girl and yet she was doing everything she could to calm her down. Waverly was unlike anyone she had ever met. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before trying to smile at her “I’m sorry but you make me really nervous. I’m not used to being nervous. It’s not a feeling I’m familiar with but here you are making me feel it.”

“Why?” Waverly said with a little shrug of her shoulders. It wasn’t said in a demeaning way or a mocking way. It was genuinely out of curiosity so she could try and understand what Nicole was feeling and thinking.

Nicole just shook her head. She shrugged against Waverly’s hand and let out a heavy sigh “I don’t know. I’m usually cool as a cucumber around pretty girls but I meet you and…” She trailed off and motioned at Waverly with a huff of confusion. “You aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met before and, not to sound like I’m using a cheesy line or anything, but I can’t stop thinking about you most days.”

Waverly was completely flattered by Nicole’s words. It showed as much as her eyes fluttered in surprise. Her hand dropped away from where she had been touching Nicole’s arm and she instead laid it over her own heart. She stared in awe at Nicole for a few quiet breaths before she shook her head just once and let out a stuttered breath of a laugh “Me?”

Nicole, feeling really vulnerable and dumb at the moment, puffed out in disbelief at Waverly’s reaction. She nodded quickly and motioned at her with a flick of her hand upwards “Yeah, Waverly, you. You were the first person to treat me like I wasn’t a monster. You were the first person to actually talk to me and try to get to know me. And the more time I spend with you or the more I talk to you the more I find you completely intriguing.”

Waverly bit her lower lip and stepped back from Nicole just slightly. It wasn’t because she was uncomfortable but because she needed a moment. She needed to really soak it all in. She wanted to look at all of Nicole, take her in, as she processed what she had just heard. After a moment she just shook her head again as a soft smile came to her lips “You really mean that?”

Nicole laughed now in a way that told Waverly she couldn’t understand why she kept asking her that. She rolled her eyes a bit as a smile rose on her lips “Why would I say that if I didn’t mean it? You don’t know a lot about me but I can promise you that I will never say something I don’t mean.”

“I’m sorry. I just…” Waverly let out a sigh now and shrugged as her teeth pulled at her bottom lip. “It was just really sweet and so genuine and, like you said, you barely know me. I am just surprised you can feel like that, that anyone could feel like that, about me. I mean, I’m just me.”

“I happen to really like just you” Nicole said softly now as her hand reached out to lightly brush against Waverly’s cheek as she brushed some loose hair back behind her ear.

Waverly blushed and her eyes dropped from Nicole. Her head turned shyly away from the light brush of Nicole’s fingers on her cheek. She bit at her lip and her own hand now lifted to retuck the hair behind her ear that Nicole had just pushed back. She shook her head slightly and after she drew in a deep breath to stabilize her own sudden nervousness she looked back to Nicole with a timid smile “You sure do know how to make a girl feel special.”

“Go on a date with me” Nicole whispered suddenly when she saw the blush rising on Waverly’s cheeks. “I’ll show you just how special you really are.”

Waverly just shook her head now as a shy breath of a laugh slid from her lips “I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Nicole smirked slightly as her hand tucked back into the front pocket of the coat she wore. “Or won’t? Because I think you are very capable of going on a date with me. In fact, I think you’re standing here searching for a reason not to.”

Waverly’s blush didn’t fade. She chewed on her lower lip again as her arms crossed in front of herself. She smiled very softly at how insistent Nicole was being before giving a shake of her head “Nicole…” She sighed now and shrugged slightly “I don’t know if this is such a good idea.”

“Shhh” Nicole lifted her hand now and pressed her finger against Waverly’s lips to quiet her. She then gave the girl a wink as her hand dropped away. “Before you say no I think you should really consider it. Just…” She shrugged and started to back away from her slowly. She kept her eyes on Waverly as she slowly took backward steps “Think about it, alright?”

Waverly fought off a smile and shook her head as she watched Nicole move away from her. She pulled her arms more tightly around herself. She let out a heavy sigh and called out now, since Nicole had put some distance between them “Where would you take me?”

Nicole smirked at the question but shook her head. She lifted both her arms out now in a shrug as she called back “You’ll have to say yes to find out.” Her arms dropped to her sides now and she let out a slight laugh before finally turning around. She turned the corner at the end of the block and moved quickly out of sight. Leave her wanting more. That was what Nicole was best at so she was going to lean on it until she found a way to act normal around Waverly.

“I can’t just-” Waverly tried to call back but Nicole was gone. She shook her head again as a smile slowly came to her lips. Nicole was definitely something else. She was something new and interesting and Waverly was definitely interested to learn more about her. She shrugged at the fact that she was now alone then looked around where she stood as if she could find some sort of answer to what had just happened. When obviously that was not found she just rolled her eyes and mumbled to herself as she turned to head back toward the library “Things are going to get complicated, aren’t they?”

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	5. #5 - Nicklas Lidstrom

The rest of the weekend had been pretty unproductive for Nicole. She had kept herself busy so she did not think about Waverly the entire time. It hadn’t really worked too well, though. By the time Monday had rolled around she was more than ready to go to school with the hope of seeing Waverly between classes.

Nicole yawned as she waited outside the ice rink early Monday morning. She had arrived early for the morning practice session that had been passed down by Nedley as punishment for herself and Wynonna’s bickering. She didn’t really mind, though. If she didn’t skate in the morning she would go jogging so she wasn’t missing out on any sleep really.

She sat in her car, letting the heater run, waiting for Nedley to arrive and unlock the building. She glanced at the clock in the center of her dashboard and frowned as she noticed he was late. Maybe he had forgotten about the extra practice session. She doubted that because he didn’t seem like the type to forget anything that had to do with hockey but she didn’t really know him too well so that very well could be the case.

Just as she was about to call him she saw another vehicle pull up. It wasn’t Nedley’s car. Instead it was unmistakably Wynonna’s truck. It was a unique truck and in a small town like Purgatory it was easy to pick out of a crowd. There was one auto dealership in town and it was new which meant everyone had very similar vehicles. Except Wynonna. Her truck was older than herself and beat to Hell.

Wynonna grumbled as she slid out of the truck. Her breath rose into the air in a cloud and she pulled her beanie down over her ears more tightly. She reached into the bed of her truck and pulled out her equipment bag that was nearly the same size as herself. She then drug her feet across the frozen dirt below as she made her way to the door.

Nicole had been watching through her rearview window. As soon as she realized Wynonna had the keys to the door she quickly turned off her car and got out. After fetching her own equipment from her trunk she jogged over to the door to catch it before Wynonna could slip inside and lock it behind her. “Hey, Earp.”

Wynonna jumped because, well, it was early in the morning and it was quiet. She had not thought Nicole was there yet. So the sudden appearance of her voice scared her. She glared back over her shoulder as she pulled the door open a little too violently and gave her head a shake “Are you trying to kill me, Haught?”

“Sorry” Nicole mumbled as she reached for the door to hold it open so Wynonna could squeeze through with her large bag. “It’s cold out. I just wanted to get inside.”

“So you come screaming at me like a banshee?” Wynonna grumbled again as she moved inside now. She made no attempt to help Nicole with the door. Instead she headed for the locker room without looking back.

“I didn’t mean-” Nicole grunted as her bag got stuck in the heavy door as it swung closed. She frowned and turned back toward it. She used one of her long legs to kick the door open as she pulled the bag with all her might. She underestimated her own strength and nearly fell backwards with the force she used to pull her bag free. Once she caught her balance she quickly turned and jogged to once more catch up with Wynonna.

Wynonna had already tossed her equipment bag on the floor of the locker room and was digging out her skates. She didn’t even look up when Nicole came into the room. She just sat on the end of the bench and started to take off all her warm clothing “Nedley wants us to sprint laps for a half hour then practice puck handling with passing. He’s probably gonna be late.”

“He alright?” Nicole asked with a perked eyebrow as she set her own bag down now.

“Probably. He’s just old and hates getting up early” Wynonna shrugged at that. She had finished discarding all of her heavy clothing and now finally looked up to where Nicole stood. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and turned to cast an annoyed glance at Wynonna. When she did she immediately saw that Wynonna’s eye was unmistakably black. Her eyes widened and she turned to fully face her now “What the Hell happened to you?”

“You always this nosy or is it just your attempt at small talk?” Wynonna rolled her eyes and turned away again. She had forgotten about the black eye her dad had given her a couple days earlier. She was kicking herself for letting Nicole see it. She shook her head at herself as she stood and started to slide into her practice uniform. 

“Earp, seriously” Nicole frowned at how dismissive Wynonna was being. She slid off her coat and let out a sigh as she reached for her skates now “Would it kill you to at least try to have a conversation with me?”

“Probably” Wynonna said softly as she pulled her shoulder and chest pads over her head. She was quiet as she straightened out her jersey and pulled her long hair out of the collar of her pads where it had been trapped. She then lifted her eyes to look at Nicole as she gathered her hair and pulled it up into a hair tie. “Not that it’s any of your business but I got in a fight at the mall.”

“Purgatory doesn’t have a mall” Nicole said blandly as she glanced at Wynonna with a face that told her she didn’t believe her one bit.

“Are you such a moron that you forgot I have a truck, a driver’s licence, and a social life?” Wynonna shook her head as she sat once more to put on her skates now that she was fully dressed in her hockey gear. “I actually have friends who like to do stuff on the weekend and that includes going to the city to shop. Go figure.” She huffed almost as if she were offended Nicole did not believe her even though she was completely lying.

Nicole let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. She pulled on her top pads then sat down to put on her skates as well. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. You don’t have to be a jerk all the time, though.”

“Then stop talking to me and I’ll have no reason to be a jerk” Wynonna hissed as she stood from the bench now. She grabbed her helmet and stick then stomped by Nicole on her way out. She let the end of her stick not-so-accidentally tap against the back of Nicole’s head and smirked when she heard Nicole groan out in pain.

Nicole rubbed the spot on her head where Wynonna’s stick had hit her as she turned to watch her go. Her head shook and she let out a soft sigh before turning back to tie her skates. She had no idea if Wynonna would ever treat her like a human being. It was definitely going to be a long season if this was how every interaction between them was going to be.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Soooo…” Nicole smirked as she slid up next to Waverly’s open locker. She eyed the girl up and down then folded her arms and leaned her shoulder onto the locker next to them “I finally figured out where your locker is which means you will now have to see me at school too.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh as she put one book into her locker and pulled out another one “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

“I just figured that…” Nicole shrugged now as her tone softened and her voice dropped “...since I hadn’t heard from you about our date that it might be torture for you to be around me.”

Waverly gave her head a shake as she turned now to look at Nicole. She could see that the girl looked genuinely sad about what she had just said. This caused her to sigh as she pushed her locker closed “You told me to consider it. I am still mulling it over. I didn’t know there was a time limit.”

“There’s not!” Nicole said quickly as she perked up a bit now that she knew Waverly hadn’t totally written her off. “I just thought you had ghosted me. Besides…” Her playful smirk had returned as she motioned at herself “What in the world could be taking so long to decide when this is what’s being offered?”

Waverly fought off a smirk and rolled her eyes at Nicole’s showboating “So very humble.”

Nicole gave her a crooked smile and just shrugged to show she wasn’t going to deny her own confidence.

Waverly’s smile faded and she gave a serious shake of her head. She pulled her backpack over her shoulders and started down the hallway now. When Nicole followed, as she suspected she would, she spoke softly again “It’s complicated, Nicole.”

“What is so complicated?” Nicole threw out her hands to the side in a sort of shrug motion. “It’s a date, Waverly. You are either interested or you’re not. It doesn’t mean you’re committing to anything more than one evening full of good company.”

Waverly stopped outside her next classroom. She looked up at Nicole now, her face still devoid of any amusement, as her head shook again “It’s not that simple. There are consequences.”

Nicole let out her own sigh now and held up her hand to stop Waverly from giving another excuse “Fine. I’ll let you think it over. But while you’re making a pros and cons list I want you to answer the most important question.”

“Which is?” Waverly perked an eyebrow curiously.

“Are you interested?” Nicole said plainly. She then offered a soft nod and started to back away. Her eyes stayed on Waverly and after a few steps she smiled and lifted her hand in a wave “I will see you later, Waverly.”

As much as she tried to fight it, Waverly smiled very slightly as she watched Nicole turn and walk away. She hated how charming she found Nicole. It was making it really hard to justify saying no to a date with her. She also knew if Wynonna found out she had gone a date with her enemy she would never forgive her. Thus her dilemma. Did she continue to placate her sister who was fighting so hard to get them out of Purgatory or did she do something selfish? 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“EARP!” Nicole’s yell echoed around the ice rink as she stomped up the corridor from the locker room to the ice. She was in full practice gear, except for her helmet and gloves, and her eyes were focused across the rink to where Wynonna now stood looking in her direction with a smirk on her face.

She pushed herself over the short wall and onto the ice before using her skates to glide her way quickly over to Wynonna. A few quick strides and she was sliding toward her with quite a bit of speed “For the love of God I am going to-”

“What?” Wynonna didn’t even flinch where she stood despite the fact that Nicole was coming at her quickly. She stood there confidently, leaning on her stick slightly, with her smirk growing wider. “You gonna fight me?” She laughed the words out as a few girls snickered nearby at the thought.

Everyone knew that Nicole was not a fighter. She had always had height on a lot of the girls she had played with growing up but she did not have a lot of bulk. She was a finesse player with speed and impeccable stick handling skills. She was one of the best defenders in the league because of it. She also harbored a wicked slap shot that she could blast past a goalie at any time and that was where her true threat lived.

But fighting was not her forte. She had only been in two fights in her entire career. The first was when she was ten. Someone had been blatantly tripping her all game and she had gotten so upset she had dropped her gloves as is accustomed in hockey when initiating a fight. The other girl had landed two punches and ended the fight just like that. Nicole had gotten her ass kicked in front of everyone she knew. She vowed to never fight again.

The second fight had come just a year prior in the game between her old team and her current team. It was the bench clearing brawl that had been started by a slash to Wynonna’s wrists. Everyone on both teams had been involved. But Nicole had only thrown a few punches before she had been pulled to safety by her goaltender. So she didn’t consider that a real fight at all.

Wynonna, on the other hand, was the team’s enforcer. Her soul purpose on the team was to deliver big hits to help lift her team’s energy. Sometimes she was sent out only to bump into the other team’s star player a few times. She was also tasked with protecting her team’s scoring stars. A lot of the time other teams would target the scorers in hopes of rattling them and getting them off their game. If one team was being particular brutal, Wynonna would step in and try to fight that person to show that no one messed with their star. 

She was good at what she did. She intimidated a lot of people. That is how she had earned her way onto most of her youth teams. Once she realized she needed to do more than hit people to keep playing she had worked on her scoring and had quickly become a double threat. A big hitter with the ability to score was an asset every team needed.

So when Wynonna taunted Nicole just then, almost daring the girl to fight, the others standing around gave a laugh because they all knew the answer to that. Nicole was most definitely not going to throw down with Wynonna.

Nicole slowed her approached and let herself slowly drift toward Wynonna now. Her eyes narrowed and she pointed right into Wynonna’s face once she drew close enough to her “If you think you can continue to bully me just because you think I won’t fight you then you don’t know me at all.”

“Oh really?” Wynonna pretended to be interested now. She pushed back from Nicole just enough so she was out of arm’s reach before she started to circle the girl slowly. A smirk came to her lips as her eyes locked on Nicole “Alright then. Drop your gloves…” She paused and lifted her own gloved hands, looked at them, then looked at Nicole’s bare hands, and smirked. “Oh wait, you can’t. Where are your gloves, Haught?”

Nicole charged at Wynonna without warning. She was so fed up with her pranks. While her back had been turned in the locker room Wynonna had somehow managed to fill both of her gloves with chocolate pudding. Not only were they now useless, but they were probably ruined, and she would have to borrow a pair from the team supply closet to practice with until she could get a new pair. 

She was infuriated. Her frustration with Wynonna boiled over in that moment as she lunged at her to grab hold of her jersey near her shoulder. She used the grip to keep Wynonna still enough to be able to land a punch. She swung her right fist forward a few times and even though Wynonna was a skilled fighter she had managed to connect on her first swing.

Wynonna, as if out of pure reflex, swung back in retaliation. Soon the girls were tangled in each other’s jerseys, trying to pull each other off balance as their other arm swung in hopes of landing decent punches. No one tried to stop them. They all just gathered around and cheered as they watched the fight unfold.

Suddenly a loud whistle blew. This immediately broke up the group of people watching the fight. Nedley came gliding over to the two fighting girls quickly and put his arm between the two. “Alright you two break it up!” He growled as he used both hands to pry at fingers that gripped jerseys in an attempt to separate the two.

“Earp, let her go” Doc grumbled as he slid up behind Wynonna and started to pull at her waist in hopes of removing her from Nicole.

Eventually the two men were able to get the fighting teenagers apart. Nedley then put himself between them, a hand on each shoulder, as he head whipped back and forth to look at them each. “I am so done with this bullshit! You two will not be playing in our first preseason game.”

“Coach that’s not fair!” Nicole growled and threw her hand in the direction of Wynonna. “She put pudding in my-”

“There’s going to be scouts there!” Wynonna interrupted Nicole as she tried to free herself from Doc’s who was still holding her waist from behind.

“You two need to grow up” Nedley pointed at each one of them as his hands dropped off their shoulders. “I don’t care if you two end up missing the entire season. I warned you. The more you two go at each other the less ice time you will see.”

“I didn’t do-”

“You charged her” Nedley turned and cut off Nicole’s excuse.

“I was an innocent vi-”

“You” Nedley whirled and pointed at Wynonna now. His eyes were fierce as he stared a hole through Wynonna’s head. He clenched his jaw and gave his head a single shake “I have put up with you for years, Earp. Keep giving me an excuse to bench you and you bet your sweet ass I will.”

Wynonna snorted out as she turned away from Nedley and finally out of Doc’s grip. She didn’t say another word as she skated off the ice now and stormed down toward the locker room. Once she was out of sight all eyes slowly turned back to look at Nicole.

Nicole just shook her head and spoke a little more calmly now that Wynonna was gone “Nedley she keeps ruining my shit! I can’t play without my gear.”

“Good thing you aren’t playing in the next game. It gives you time to replace it.” Nedley just shook his head in disappointment then motioned toward the bench. “Go home, Haught. Think about what the Hell is more important to you.” He looked her up and down and there was no mistaking how truly let down he was by her actions. “I thought you could rise above this. I guess I was wrong.”

Nicole’s heart dropped into her toes. There was no worse feeling in the world than letting down someone who believed in you. It broke her heart. She opened her mouth to make another excuse but was cut off by Nedley using his whistle to get everyone else’s attention. Realizing there was no use trying to explain herself she hung her head and skated off toward the bench.

She didn’t go directly to the locker room. Instead she sat on the bench and watched her team practice. This gave Wynonna time to leave so they wouldn’t have to run into one another again. This also gave her time to think about what Nedley had said. He was right. She needed to focus on what was important to her. She had spent most of her life playing hockey. She couldn’t let one terrible person ruin her entire career. She had to focus.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Nicole, wait!” Waverly rushed out of the ice rink in an attempt to catch up to Nicole who had left in a hurry.

Nicole whirled around at the sound of her name and when she saw that it was Waverly who had called out she blinked in surprise. She had not expected to see the girl there today. Her bad mood immediately started to fade and she smiled at her as she caught up. “Are you stalking me now?”

Waverly let out a laugh and shook her head as she came to a stop in front of Nicole now. She adjusted the straps of her backpack over her shoulders a little better now that she was not running to catch up. “I saw what happened. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“She got in a few punches” Nicole mumbled sheepishly. She could not believe Waverly had seen what had happened. She lifted her hand to touch at a small cut near her right cheekbone “But I think I stood my ground.”

Waverly just shook her head and let out a sigh as her hand lifted to touch the spot that Nicole had just touched. She bit her lower lip and after a moment she let out a soft sigh as her eyes focused back on Nicole “What happened to ignoring her pranks?”

“She ruined my gloves” Nicole grunted and motioned toward the rink where she had just come from. “Those things aren’t cheap! Besides, I had them all broken in. My fingers made special divots and notches. Now I am going to have to adjust my grip and my shot until I break in my new pair.”

Waverly did feel kind of bad about the fact Wynonna had ruined some of her equipment. She let out a soft sigh at that “Well I’m sorry. I know how superstition athletes can get and adjusting to new equipment is not fun.”

“You know, huh?” Nicole perked an eyebrow and smiled slowly. “You hang out with a lot of athletes? Is that your type?”

Waverly blushed when Nicole asked about her type. She rolled her eyes and gave her head a little shake before letting out a tiny laugh “No.”

“No to what?” Nicole’s own amusement was growing. She could tell she had flustered Waverly a bit. “No you don’t hang out with a lot of athletes or no they aren’t your type?”

“Both. Just shut up” Waverly let out a puff of a laugh and once more rolled her eyes. She started to walk now, moving toward Nicole’s car, because she assumed that is where Nicole had been heading when she stopped her. “Can’t you just have one serious conversation?”

“What?” Nicole gasped as if she were offended at the accusation. She let out a laugh and turned to follow Waverly as amusement danced on her lips. “I’m serious! I don’t know anything about you and you aren’t exactly forthcoming with information so I have to take any tidbit you give me! I was just trying to get to know you.”

Waverly bit her lip to fight off a smile. She hated the fact that Nicole could be annoying and yet charming all at the same time. She paused at Nicole’s trunk once they reached it and turned to look back at her “Well what do you want to know?”

Nicole pointed at her and gave her head a shake now “Nuh uh. Nope” She laughed out as she unlocked her trunk and tossed her hockey bag in before slamming it closed. She focused her eyes and Waverly and her smile grew “I’m not gonna ask you anything personal until we go on a date. That way I don’t start falling for you until I know you’re interested.”

Waverly’s cheeks immediately blazed a shade of red she wasn’t sure she was capable of reaching. Nicole was smooth. She knew how to talk to a girl. She knew all the right things to say to make her feel special. Waverly was having a hard time resisting her charm and she hated that. No one had been able to affect her in that way. Not until Nicole. 

She gave a quick shake of her head and as her eyes locked with Nicole she let out a sigh of defeat “Nicole, I’m interested.”

“You are?” Nicole didn’t mean to sound so surprised but the words had come out at a higher pitch than normal and there was no denying they carried that tone. She blinked just once and her smile that she held grew wider. “Does that mean you’ll go on a date with me?”

“One date” Waverly lifted her finger as if to make it a point that she meant one date.

“That’s all I need” Nicole agreed with a quick nod of her head. “If you don’t have fun on our date than we can just be friends. But if you like it…” She trailed off now and bit her bottom lip as she blinked her eyes hopefully at Waverly.

“We will take it one at a time” Waverly repeated as she felt herself starting to blush again. It was almost overwhelming how eager Nicole was to spend time with her. It was also flattering, too. Waverly was well liked throughout the town. But she never really felt that people cared to really know her, outside Jeremy of course, so having Nicole ready and willing was new to her. She liked it, though. At least she thought she did. Maybe she just wanted a distraction from her shitty home situation.

“Cool” Nicole nodded in agreement again. She let her eyes linger on Waverly for a moment before letting out a soft, happy sounding sigh “Is that why you came to practice? You were waiting to tell me yes?”

Waverly let out a huff of a laugh now and shook her head. Without realizing it she mumbled out “I was waiting for a ride home.”

Nicole perked an eyebrow. She bit at her lip to fight off her amusement and put a hand to her own chest “From me? You just assumed I was going to give you a ride home, too?”

“What? No!” Waverly’s eyes widened with panic. She was panicking because she forgot that Nicole still did not know Wynonna was her sister and, thus, her ride home. She was also kind of panicking because she hoped Nicole did not think she was rude enough to just assume she would give her a ride home.

Nicole chuckled very lightly and put a hand on Waverly’s shoulder now “Hey, calm down. I was just teasing. I would love to give you a ride home.”

“You don’t have to” Waverly said quickly. “I actually meant…” She trailed off and realized she should probably just rip off the bandaid and tell Nicole she was related to Wynonna. She looked down at her feet because she didn’t want to see the look in Nicole’s eyes. She shrugged and started to mumble “Um, actually, I was waiting for-”

“Waverly!” Wynonna’s voice broke out from across the parking lot. She was standing just outside the door of the rink. She narrowed her eyes at Nicole then looked back at her sister as her arm motioned for her to come over.

Waverly’s eyes went wide. She looked up to Nicole, looking almost like a deer in the headlights, before she frowned a little “I have to go. I am so sorry. But I will see you soon!”

Nicole was confused. She looked between Waverly and Wynonna and just blinked. It took a moment for it all to register but when it did Waverly was already jogging away. She lifted her hand in a weak wave and called out lightly “Yeah, uh, see ya.” She slowly moved to get into her car, her eyes on Waverly and Wynonna as she moved. 

She wondered for a moment why Wynonna would be calling Waverly over. Then it hit her. It was probably for the story Waverly was writing. If Wynonna was half as annoying to Waverly as she was to Nicole than she had probably been putting off talking to her for as long as possible. She shook her head at the thought as she got into her car and started it up. Why did Wynonna have to be so damn obnoxious about everything?

Waverly bit her lip as her eyes focused on her sister. She could already see that Wynonna was scowling at her. As she reached the door she tried to put on her usual smile and pretend nothing was going on “Hey, you ready to go?”

“Almost…” Wynonna mumbled and looked back at Nicole. She watched her get into her car before she slowly looked at her sister. She perked her eyebrow suspiciously and motioned to where Waverly had just come from “What are you doing talking to her?”

“I told you I was interviewing her for the paper” Waverly mumbled as she adjusted the straps of her backpack against her shoulders.

Wynonna gave one nod as her eyes moved to look at Nicole’s car. She watched it move out of the parking lot and when it was finally gone she blinked. Her head shook and she motioned behind her “Come wait inside. Nedley wants to talk to me and I didn’t want you freezing your ass off. Heaven forbid you get sick. You know who will get the blame for that.”

Waverly didn’t argue because, well, it was really cold outside. She also knew their father would blame Wynonna for not taking care of Waverly even though she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. So she just followed Wynonna back inside.

They were quiet for a moment as they headed toward where Nedley’s coaching office was. Once they reached the door, Wynonna motioned for Waverly to sit outside in one of the chairs before she knocked on the door. 

“Come in” Nedley called from the other side.

Wynonna drew in a deep breath to steel up her nerves. She knew she was about to be yelled at. But at least the yelling would not be accompanied by a beating so that was nice. As the thought passed through her mind she pushed the door open. She could immediately see that Nedley had a frown on his face and she let out a sigh as she stepped into the office and shut the door behind her “I know.”

“Then what the Hell is wrong with you?” Nedley said firmly but with a tone of caring in his words.

Wynonna just shook her head and plopped down into the seat across from his desk “She annoys me. Besides, it’s fun picking on her.”

“Why?” Nedley turned his hands palm up in a quick flick as if waiting for the answer to land there. “What is the point? It’s taking focus from your game.”

Wynonna just nodded and dropped her eyes to look at her hands. She let out a heavy sigh now “I’m sorry, coach.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just be better” Nedley said with a firm nod. He pushed away from the desk now and stood from his chair. He moved around to where Wynonna sat and leaned back against the desk there. He folded his arms and looked down to her with a new look in his eyes. The anger was gone and had been replaced with concern. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head “You’re so close to getting out of here, Earp. I’ve put a lot on the line for you. Don’t mess it up now.”

Wynonna nodded and glanced up at Nedley now. She felt a little twitch of guilt in her gut at Nedley mentioning having put a lot on the line for her. It wasn’t well known but a few years prior Nedley had spoken up with his concern about the Sheriff and how he was treating his daughters. Their oldest sister had just left for college and their mother had been gone for a few years before that. He had started to suspect the abuse before their mother had left but never had proof.

One day he had caught Ward yelling at Wynonna. He had seen her flinch when he had raised his hand in frustration. After seeing that Nedley had gone to social services to voice his concern. They had assured him they would investigate the claim. 

Of course, having heard of the accusation, Ward had been on his best behavior. Social services had not found any cause for concern and concluded it was an unfounded claim. After this, Wynonna had been beaten within an inch of her life and missed a big chunk of the hockey preseason that year. Ward had confronted Nedley and warned him to mind his own business. He threatened Nedley’s job if he ever dared speak up again. Since then, Nedley had tried his best to be patient with Wynonna and care for her the best he could without crossing any lines so as not to anger the Sheriff again.

No one knew that Nedley had done this. It was why he put up with Wynonna’s shenanigans. He knew she was acting out because of what was going on at home. So he tried to be patient with her but she was starting to go too far and he needed her to know as much.

“I’ll be better” Wynonna finally relented with a nod. Her eyes lifted up to him and the corners of her lips flickered into a momentary smile. “Can I go?”

Nedley gave a nod and motioned to the door. He walked back around his desk and after sitting back in his chair he cleared his throat “By the way, I am getting a lot of interest in you from a lot of schools. They are reaching out wanting to interview you and see if you will fit their program. So…” He looked at Wynonna and gave just enough of a smile to make his thick moustache twitch on his top lip “Shape up. I don’t want to have to lie to them when they ask if you get along with everyone on the team.”

“Really?” Wynonna’s eyes went wide and a real smile came to her lips now.

He gave a nod. They shared a moment of a smile then it faded from his face and he flicked his hand toward the door a few times as if urging her away “Now go home.”

“Yes, coach. Thank you” Wynonna turned and rushed out of the office. She glanced down at Waverly and was still smiling when she motioned for her to follow “Alright, babygirl, let’s get home. It’s early enough we might be able to get dinner in before the shitbag gets home.”

Waverly was confused by why Wynonna seemed happy. She hurried to her feet to follow her sister who was rushing outside and to her truck. She finally caught up with her just as she was unlocking the doors to the truck. She looked at her sister with anticipation as she crawled into the truck “Why were you smiling? I thought for sure you were going to be yelled at.”

Wynonna just shrugged and held her smile as she started her truck. “He just told me a few schools were interested in me.”

“Wow, really!” Waverly bounced excitedly in her seat as she turned to look at her sister better.

Wynonna let out a happy breath of a laugh as she started to guide her truck out of the lot “Yeah. It’s crazy but…” She shook her head and glanced back at her sister with a sincere look of happiness in her eyes “...things might actually be working out for us.”

“Wow” Waverly repeated as she settled back against her seat. She shook her head as a smile came to her lips. “I am so proud of you, Wynonna. I knew you could do it.”

“Well I still have work to do” Wynonna admitted with a nod. “But, yeah…” She glanced at Waverly for a moment then looked back at the road “...getting closer.” She reached over and took hold of Waverly’s hand. She gave it a soft squeeze and the two of them fell quiet. They both took the moment to simply soak in what they had just learned. Wynonna was on the cusp of getting a scholarship and getting them out of Purgatory. It was everything they had been dreaming of for as long as either of them could remember.

Finally Wynonna let go of Waverly’s hand and let out a sigh. She glanced at her sister and when she spoke again it was in a more serious tone “I don’t want you talking to Nicole Haught anymore.”

Waverly frowned and her head shook as she looked over at her sister in shock. She huffed out indignantly at that “You can’t tell me who to be friends with.”

“She’s not a good person and I don’t want her messing with you to get to me” Wynonna shook her head and glanced at her sister seriously.

“She doesn’t even know-”

“I mean it” Wynonna said sharply. She glared at her sister for a moment again before looking back to the road. She shook her head and spoke a little softer but still seriously “There are plenty of people in school to be friends with. Stay away from her.”

Waverly looked at her sister in complete disgust. She could not believe her sister was being so controlling. She shook her head and rolled her eyes as her arms crossed her chest. She was glad she had said yes to the date now. Wynonna had no right to tell her who to be friends with and she was going to remind her of that fact by blatantly disobeying her. Sure, it wasn’t mature but, hey, she was a teenager. She didn’t have to be mature.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	6. #6 - Phil Housley

It was finally Saturday which meant it was finally the day of the date. Nicole had been so excited about it that she couldn’t sleep in. So she had gotten up early, gotten in a good run, and then set about to make herself busy. She had wanted everything to be perfect so she gave herself plenty of time to research, set up, and even get dressed. All of it had to be flawless. She wanted to sweep Waverly off her feet.

The longer the day went on, though, the more Nicole’s plans started to fall apart. She was growing increasingly distraught as little thing after little thing went wrong. It started with the outfit she wanted to wear. She had been saving this outfit specifically for the date and when she had pulled it out to put it on she realized there was a tear right in the armpit. When that had happened she had no idea. All she knew was her outfit was ruined.

Then her plans for dinner quickly crumbled to pieces. After that her original idea for where to take Waverly ended up falling through. Soon she was in full on scramble mode. She felt like she was running around in the dark, grasping for anything she could find to hold onto so she wouldn’t totally face plant.

Nicole found herself in less than a great mood when the time to pick Waverly up finally rolled around. She tried to shake it as she drove over to her house but the little storm cloud over her head had tagged along for the ride. She hoped that it wouldn’t show on the date. The last thing she wanted was for Waverly to think she was not having a good time. She was sure that no matter how bad the day had started she would have a great time just being near Waverly. So that is what she tried to focus on.

When she pulled up to Jeremy’s house, because that’s where she thought Waverly lived, she was surprised to see Waverly waiting on the front step. She perked a curious eyebrow as she pushed her car door open and stood up out of her seat. She smiled very softly as the girl got off the steps and headed toward where she had pulled her car up to the curb “You know, typically one comes to the door when picking up a date. Maybe meets the dad?” 

“It’s fine” Waverly waved the notion off as she approached the car. She smiled very lightly as Nicole came around to the passenger side and reached out to open the door. She paused and looked her over very slowly before giving a little nod “Are you ready to go?”

Nicole let out a soft laugh and motioned to herself holding the door open “If you are, which you seem to be.” She motioned toward the house now and nodded “Honestly, if your parents want to meet me I’m not nervous. Parents love me.”

Waverly just laughed it off and slid into the passenger side seat. She adjusted her coat around herself before reaching for her seatbelt. She clicked it into place then looked across the car to where Nicole was sliding in beside her “Really, it’s fine. They don’t make a big deal about dates or anything.” That was true. Jeremy’s family cared very little about Waverly going on dates. They, of course, told her to be safe but they knew she was smart so they didn’t worry about it.

“Huh” Nicole grunted out in a bit of surprise as she nodded to herself. She then pulled her seatbelt on and started to drive. When she reached the end of the block her eyes got wide and she quickly pulled the car over again “Oh! I forgot…” She shuffled around so she could reach into the pocket of her large winter coat. She fished out a bandana and gave Waverly an almost sheepish smile. “I promise I’m not trying to be a creep and lead you out into the woods to kill you. But can you put on this blindfold?”

Waverly almost couldn’t believe what had just been asked and it showed as she snorted out a delighted giggle. Her head shook as she reached for the bandana that was offered to her “Can I ask why?”

“Oh, well, you see you grew up here so it’s easy to assume that once I start driving you are going to guess where we are going and I wanted to surprise you…” Nicole bit her lip, looking almost nervous now, and flicked her shoulders up in a shrug “At least try to surprise you.”

Waverly gave her head a shake of amusement as she looked down at the bandana in her hand. She decided to just go with it. She had complete faith that Nicole was not a psycho killer and had the best intentions in mind. So she nodded and lifted the bandana to her eyes. She smiled as she quickly worked to tie the ends together behind her head. Once she was done she turned to Nicole as if to show her she had accomplished her goal “I hope you know I am putting a very large amount of trust in you.”

Nicole couldn’t help her own smile as Waverly willingly blindfolded herself. It was a small gesture but it showed that she was going into the evening with an open mind. That was a good sign. She had been convinced this night was going to be a disaster once everything had started to fall apart so hopefully Waverly had no expectations and it wouldn’t seem too rushed and scrambled together.

“I appreciate you trusting me” Nicole finally said with a nod as she turned her attention back to driving. “I have to admit I’ve been nervous all day. Not because I’m, like, nervous about dating or whatever. But, I don’t know, I guess I really just wanted to impress you and for some reason everything I’ve come up with didn’t seem good enough.”

Waverly bit her lip and was grateful the bandana was large enough to cover most of her cheeks too because she definitely blushed. No one had ever made her feel this way before. She felt interesting and special and like she was someone worth getting to know. It was all new to her and she had no idea why Nicole felt the way she did. She was also glad for it. It made risking pissing off her sister worth it. “You don’t have to impress me, Nicole. If I’m being honest you have already done more than enough to catch my attention.”

Nicole smiled and glanced over. She felt her heart flutter when she saw the smile on Waverly’s face too. It made her feel like maybe this date wouldn’t be horrible even if she had basically gone to her very last backup plan. “Well hopefully I can keep your attention, then.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem” Waverly said so softly she wasn’t sure Nicole had even heard it. 

Nicole had heard it. She gave a little nod to herself as she drew in a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies that were dancing around in her stomach. She had dinner planned but she wasn’t sure she could eat with the way Waverly was making her feel.

Luckily the ride from Jeremy’s house to where they were going was quick. To be fair most drives in Purgatory were quick. Either way Nicole was glad for that as they pulled into their destination just then. She parked quickly and turned off the car which surprised Waverly.

“We’re here already?” Waverly perked up in surprise and looked around even though she couldn’t see anything.

“See I told you I wasn’t leading you out to the woods” Nicole laughed as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Stay put I am going to come get you.” With her words she quickly slid out of her driver side seat and moved around to the trunk. She quickly opened that and reached in for the bag she had stashed there before rushing over to Waverly’s door. She opened it and immediately offered her hand down “You gotta keep the blindfold on while we go inside, okay?”

Waverly let out a soft laugh but nodded to show she understood. She reached out and when she felt Nicole had already offered her hand out for help she smiled. Nicole was kind of an absolute gentleman. She had already opened her door for her more times than any other boy she had been on a date with previously. She liked that.

“You good?” Nicole asked as she helped Waverly to her feet then closed the door behind her. When she got a nod in response she smiled and stepped beside Waverly. She guided her hand to the bend in her elbow “Just hold on and let me guide you. I promise not to run you into anything.”

“I trust you” Waverly repeated the notion from earlier in the car as she gave in and let Nicole guide her. She was a little weary, only because she was wearing heels, but she did trust that Nicole would not purposely harm her. 

The two of them moved slowly together into the building. It had been a little difficult for Nicole to keep Waverly close, unlock the door, juggle the bag she held, and hold the door open but she had somehow managed it without any elbows or knees being bumped or smashed. After that the rest of the trip was easy. She did have to guide Waverly up some stairs but even that came easy.

Once they had finally reached the room they were heading for Nicole guided Waverly to a specific spot. She put her hands on her shoulders now and nodded “Okay, give me like a minute to set up. Then I will take off the bandana.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh and folded her hands neatly in front of her. She kept a smile on her face as she listened to Nicole rustling about the room. She was trying to guess where they were but she was clueless. All she knew was the heat needed to be turned on because it was a little chilly “Are you sure we’re inside? I mean I felt a door and some stairs but it kind of feels like we’re still outside.”

Nicole looked over her shoulder from where she was lighting a candle. She let out a soft laugh and gave a nod “Yeah I just turned on the heat for this room so it will be nice and toasty soon. I didn’t want it to get too hot before we got here because then, you know, I’d be super sweaty and that’s just gross.”

Waverly couldn’t help but laugh. She had to admit that Nicole’s self-deprecating humor was something she really admired. Not a lot of people, especially teenagers, were so open about their own faults. “So are you normally a heavy sweater? Should I anticipate clammy hands and pack extra antiperspirant for you?”

Nicole laughed out softly as she finished with the last candle she had brought with her. She looked at the scene she had set up and smiled. It was pretty romantic. There was a small table with two chairs on the same side and candles around the perimeter of it. The table faced a big pane of glass. Through the glass was a clear view of the huge video screen that hung over the middle of the high school hockey rink. She knew it wasn’t the most romantic place but it was one of the only places she could get access to at the last minute.

“No I don’t usually sweat too much. I mean, if I’m working out or the room is super hot I will…” She shook her head because that didn’t matter. She moved now over to Waverly and lifted her hands to the back of her head. “Are you ready?” She asked softly as she started to untie the bandana now.

Waverly gave a single nod so that she did not pull the knot out of Nicole’s fingers. Her smile grew as the anticipation for the big reveal started to build. She was genuinely clueless as to where Nicole had brought her so she was excited to see.

Nerves bounced up into Nicole’s throat as she pulled the bandana loose and slid it from Waverly’s eyes. She stepped to the side and almost shyly watched as Waverly’s eyes came open and she looked around the room. She couldn’t tell right away how the girl felt so she motioned to the table and shrugged “I had this big idea about dinner but then I didn’t know what you liked. Then I didn’t know exactly what vegans could eat so I started to google that and it became very clear very quickly that I had never heard of most of the ingredients I would need. I also didn’t know where to find most of them without leaving town so then I just gave up and started to panic and-”

“Nicole” Waverly spoke softly and reached out to put her hand on the girl’s arm. She caught her eyes and gave a single nod “You don’t need to explain. I think this is lovely” She motioned to the table that was surrounded by candles and gave her a very genuine smile. “Honestly the fact that you didn’t bring me to your house, order pizza, and expect me to play video games all night has already made this date memorable.”

Nicole bit her lip and blushed very softly. Her eyes flickered to the table then back to Waverly. She could see the genuine look in the girl’s eyes and it helped her relax a little. She gave a nod to show she believed her then motioned toward the front of Waverly “The heat kicked in. Can I take your coat?”

“Of course” Waverly said gently and reached down to unzip the coat. It went to her knees and once she had it opened she turned around and shrugged out of it. Once she was free she stepped away and turned back around. Now she felt nervous. This was the first time Nicole would see what she had worn. Not that clothes really mattered but, well, she was a teenager so of course they mattered.

She had gone with a skirt because she liked them. She wore them regularly because she felt comfortable in them. She also felt cute in them. So she had picked her favorite, a soft blue and white floral printed pleated skirt that landed just above her knees, and paired it with light pink long sleeved ruffled blouse. She bit her lip now and smoothed her hand over her shirt before pushing some of her wavy long hair back off her shoulder as she waited for Nicole to turn around.

Nicole had been delicately hanging Waverly’s coat on one of the hooks on the back of the door. They were in a sort of small office looking room. It was where scouts or coaches would sit when they came to watch the players during games. They had a good view of the rink as well as the video screen that offered the closeups during the games. It wasn’t the most romantic place but it would serve its purpose.

Once she had hung up Waverly’s coat she had taken off her own. She had ended up having to quickly press a dark blue button up with tiny white dots all over it. It wasn’t her favorite shirt but it was her nicest one. She had paired it with one of her dad’s old white ties and a skin tight pair of black slacks. She looked at herself and smoothed her hand over her tie before she turned around quickly “Anyway, so I stopped-” She was cut off when her eyes landed on Waverly. She looked a little stunned at what she saw. The girl was simply beautiful in a way that made it look like she wasn’t even trying to be. She blinked a few times and felt herself blush before she motioned to Waverly as she nodded “Wow. You look incredible.”

“Thanks” Waverly barely breathed out the words. She was relieved that Nicole liked how she looked. She smiled very softly as her eyes flickered now over Nicole. She gave a few slight nods as she took her in before finally lifting her eyes to meet Nicole’s nervous gaze “You look really nice. I like the tie.”

“Yeah?” Nicole sounded surprised as she looked down at the front of her shirt. She smoothed one hand over the tie again as the other hand lifted to tuck some of her short curly red hair behind her ear. “I thought I’d class it up a bit, you know?”

“You did a great job” Waverly said with a soft laugh. “And hey…” Her hand motioned to the blue and white of her skirt then to Nicole’s shirt and she smiled “We match.”

Nicole looked down at her blue shirt with the white dots then back up to Waverly’s skirt. She smiled slightly and let out a soft laugh “I should have gone with a pink tie so we really could have looked like a couple.”

Waverly blushed slightly and looked down at her skirt again. The idea of the two of them being a couple kind of made her heart do a little flip. She gave a nod as her eyes lifted back to Nicole who was smirking. “Do you have a pink tie?”

“I’ll have to buy one” Nicole laughed very softly. She then stepped forward, because she realized they were both standing there awkwardly, and motioned toward the table. “Um, so, like I was saying before. I didn’t know what to feed you. But…” She lifted a finger as if to tell Waverly to hold on a moment. She moved over to the other side of the table and leaned down to grab the bag she had brought. She started to pull out a few to go boxes and looked up with a little shrug “I remembered you pointed out that burrito place that has good vegan food when we took our tour.”

Waverly perked an eyebrow and moved toward the table now. She gave a nod as Nicole revealed what she had decided on for them to eat and let out a very soft laugh “So you were paying attention between trying to flirt with me, huh?”

Nicole laughed and nodded as she pulled out a couple water bottles and put them on the table as well “I am very good at multi-tasking.”

“Well color me impressed” Waverly said with a genuine smile on her lips. She reached out to pull her chair out but was stopped by Nicole. She perked an eyebrow when Nicole moved the chair then motioned for her to sit. She did so without hesitation as a blush started to rise on her cheeks. Nicole was continually surprising her.

Nicole bit back another smile when she saw the look of surprise in Waverly’s eyes as she pulled out her chair. She watched her sit then moved to take her seat right next to where Waverly was. They were sitting on the same side of the table now and Nicole offered out one of the boxes she had pulled from the bag “I decided to try a vegan burrito, too. You know….” She shrugged as she slid a box in front of her “...expand my horizons and shit.”

Waverly let out a very soft laugh at that. She opened her box of food and looked in. Immediately she was greeted with the scent of the food and her stomach growled. Nicole had told her not to eat and she had obliged. She was glad for that now because she was really excited about having one of her favorite things. “Well I hope you like it. I think you’ll be surprised at how good it is.”

“I’m definitely not picky so I’m sure it’ll be great” Nicole looked over at Waverly and offered her a smile. She took a moment to simply take in the way her date looked in the dim candlelight and she felt her heart flutter slightly in her chest. She wasn’t sure how much she would be able to eat because the butterflies in her stomach were currently taking up most of the room. Hopefully Waverly wouldn’t notice if she barely touched her food.

Waverly had started to cut into the burrito almost immediately. She had been focused on what she was doing and had not noticed that Nicole had taken a moment to look at her. She did, however, notice that a sort of awkward silence had fallen over the room. That is when she looked up from what she was doing and glanced over to Nicole. She gave her a bit of a crooked smile then motioned to how they were sitting “Purely out of curiosity but is there a reason we are on the same side of the table? Usually people on a date sit across from each other so they can talk to each other.”

“Oh!” Nicole jumped up from the table so quickly that she nearly tipped it over. Luckily the candles were in hefty jars and had not toppled over. Her eyes went wide and she reached out to steady the table. Once it was still again she let out a nervous laugh then turned away from the table. She grabbed something off the small desk in the corner of the room and brought it back. As she sat she showed Waverly what she had. It looked like an electrical control panel “I wanted to add a twist to the traditional dinner and a movie thing, so…” She pushed a few buttons on the panel and slowly the large video screen in front of them over the center of the ice came on. She smiled softly and glanced over to Waverly with a little nod “Do you like comedies?”

Waverly looked completely surprised. Her hand went over her heart as her jaw dropped a little. She stared at the huge screen that was at the perfect eye level to the room where they sat. She gave her head a shake of disbelief before she looked over to Nicole in awe “This is such a creative idea. Yes, of course I like comedies.”

Nicole’s smile spread widely over her lips at the compliment to the creativity of the date. She had been so nervous when her original plans had fallen apart but she was beginning to see it might have been for the best. She let her eyes linger on Waverly’s face for another moment before she let out a breath of a laugh and looked back at the panel in front of her. She pressed the button to start the movie before setting the panel on the floor. As the credits started to roll she picked up her fork again and glanced over to Waverly once more. She gave a little nod then looked down to her food “Well, bon appetit, then!”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

They had managed to get through the meal with easy chit chat. It was mostly just comments on the movie and what was happening. There had been a few times that Waverly had laughed so hard she snorted which had caused Nicole to laugh uncontrollably for a few minutes straight. That had really helped to lighten the mood because before that moment there had been a nervous energy in the air.

After the movie Nicole had taken Waverly down to the ice and given her some hockey skates. Even though Waverly had protested, saying it probably wasn’t a good idea because of risk of falling, she had obliged and was now standing in the opened panel of wall that players moved in and out of to get on and off the ice during games. Nicole stood in the middle of the ice, a stick in her hand, and a smile on her lips “Come on it’s just like walking. The only difference is you get to glide between each step.”

Waverly bit her lip and looked down. Of course she had been on hockey skates before. Wynonna had made her come out on the ice with her several times in the past so she could practice puck handling around a human. So Waverly was no stranger to skates. She just didn’t want Nicole to know that. So she slowly reached her foot out to find her footing on the ice.

Nicole quickly moved over to Waverly, offering her hand out in a gesture of support, as her eyes fell to her feet. “Just go slow. Keep your knees bent. It helps you control your balance. Make sure you don’t-”

She was cut off when Waverly pushed away from the wall now and glided with ease across the ice. She smiled to herself proudly. She slowly turned in a circle and when she came around to see Nicole across the ice she just gave a shy shrug “I might have been on skates a time or two before.”

Nicole’s surprise could be seen across the ice. She stared in disbelief for a few moments before blinking it away and replacing it with a laugh. She pushed off and let herself slide toward Waverly slowly. She gave the girl a little amused shake of her head as she drew closer “Why didn’t you tell me you’d skated before?”

Waverly just shrugged and bit her lip shyly “It was cute that you were so concerned about me.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, blushing softly, as a laugh came from her lips. “Well how are you with a stick?” She now offered Waverly the hockey stick she had been dragging behind her on the ice.

“Oh, terrible” Waverly laughed out the words. She didn’t even take the stick. She flicked her wrist as if trying to brush the stick out of her reach. She knew for sure she was not good at skating and using a stick. She had tried once, at Wynonna’s urging, and nearly tripped over it. “How you guys all skate and handle a stick without nearly dying amazes me.”

Nicole gave a slightly cocky smirk at that. She liked the idea that something she did amazed Waverly. She pulled the stick back now that Waverly had refused to take it. She then skated away toward the bench again. She reached into the bench area in search of something. Soon she found what she was looking for and she started to toss puck after puck over the short wall and onto the ice.

When she was done there were at least ten pucks scattered around. Now she used the stick against the ice to guide one over to where Waverly was still standing. She then flicked her wrist and brought the puck up off the ice with the blade of the stick. She started to bounce the puck on the blade a few times before pausing and holding it still. She held it up to eye level and gave a little smile “What if you don’t have to skate? How’s your slapshot?”

“I don’t…” Waverly let out a soft laugh and shrugged at the question. She couldn’t stop smiling. Nicole was kind of showing off but it was kind of adorable. She reached out to take the puck off of the blade of Nicole’s stick and tossed it up a few times, catching it each time between, before her eyes focused back on Nicole “Probably terrible, too. Why?”

Nicole lifted her finger to indicate she wanted Waverly to hold on a second. She then skated away to scoop up another puck and bring it back. She kept it on the ice this time as she used her stick to point to the goal at one end of the ice. “That goal is nearly 60 feet away from us” She tapped the blue line in the ice where she stood then smiled back at Waverly “Every time either of us makes a shot we get to ask the other person a question. That person must answer it.”

“That’s not fair” Waverly motioned to where the goal was and laughed lightly. “You score from here all the time.”

“How about this…” Nicole skated backwards away from Waverly and gathered the rest of the pucks. She took a minute to lightly tap them over toward where Waverly stood. Once she had them all rounded up she came back over and motioned back to the goal with her stick. “You get to set my puck wherever you want to on the line. I’ll close my eyes so I don’t know where I’m at and I’ll only use my wrist shot.” She shrugged at her offer because it was pretty fair. Wrist shots were generally used for short distance shots and shooting without knowing what angle she was to the goal would make it nearly impossible to score.

“Can I go first?” Waverly perked an eyebrow as a slow smile came to her lips. She had to admit she really liked the idea. 

Nicole nodded quickly and turned the stick in her hand so she could offer the handle out for Waverly to take. Once her hand was free of the stick she pushed backwards slightly so she would not be in the way. She motioned for Waverly to go ahead now “Do you want any tips?”

Waverly let out a soft laugh as she skated along the blue line. She set her puck down directly in front of the goal so that all she had to do was push it straight. She glanced to her right where Nicole stood a few feet away and just shook her head “How hard can it be? Just push it like this…” With the words she put the blade of the stick on the ice and used all her strength to shove the puck against the ice.

The puck moved fairly quickly, as Waverly had put a lot of strength behind her shot, but it did not stay on a straight path. Instead it veered to the right and ended up missing the goal by a few feet. This made Waverly huff and turn to look at Nicole with a frown “Okay, what did I do wrong?”

“Nope” Nicole let out a laugh as she skated over and took the stick back from Waverly. “You didn’t want my tips so you are on your own now.” She grinned widely at the girl before closing her eyes now and motioning toward the ice “Please, set me.”

“You’re kind of cocky when it comes to hockey” Waverly puffed out a laugh. She tried to sound annoyed but, honestly, she had dealt with Wynonna’s ego her entire life so it did not bug her. Nicole was good at what she did so she deserved to gloat over it a little bit. She knew it was all in good fun anyway so she wasn’t bothered by it.

She slid over the ice and decided to set the puck out as far to the left as she could without it sitting against the wall. She then turned and moved back over to Nicole. She eyed her for a moment then put her hands on own her hips “I suppose you want me to put my hands on your hips and push you over there?”

Nicole smirked as her hands both lifted in an innocent shrug “How else am I supposed to know where it’s at?”

Waverly rolled her eyes at that. She moved behind Nicole and put one hand on her back. The other one grabbed hold of the arm that held the stick “This was just a ploy to get me to touch all up on you. I’m onto you.”

Nicole laughed very lightly as she moved forward with Waverly’s help “It was an attempt to make this fair. Your hands on my back is an unexpected bonus.”

“I don’t believe you” Waverly laughed as she pushed gently against Nicole until she was within reach of the puck. She moved around her quickly and put her hands out to stop her momentum. “Okay, right there is good. Hold on” She leaned down and nudged the puck so it was resting against Nicole’s stick. She then straightened up and moved away so she didn’t get hit with the shot “Can you feel the puck?”

Nicole gave a nod as her smile faded. Her face creased now as she concentrated on what she was doing. She lifted her stick to tap the top of the puck then slid it around a little as if she were getting familiar with everything. She then set her stick back down behind the puck and after a moment of thought she flicked her wrists and sent the shot snapping off the blade and up into the air quickly.

The shot was typically less powerful than a slapshot but that did not mean there was no strength in a wrist shot. It sailed through the air toward the goal with a lot of speed behind it. Nicole’s eyes came open to watch her shot just as the hard black rubber puck clinked off the outside of the goal post, sending an echo through the empty rink. She let out a groan and turned to look at Waverly behind her “I was so close!”

“How!” Waverly’s jaw dropped as she motioned to the goal. Nicole had been shooting across her body with her opposite hand and her eyes closed and somehow she had still nearly made a goal. She let out a huff of a laugh and looked back at Nicole “You peeked!”

“I swear” Nicole laughed out in amusement as she skated over toward where Waverly stood. “I would never cheat. Cheating doesn’t accomplish anything.”

Waverly pouted for a moment before reaching out for the stick. She had a new sense of competition in her eyes as she moved a puck to the same spot she had shot from previously. She now held her tongue out of the side of her mouth and narrowed her eyes as she eyed the goal. It was almost as if she were lining up the shot to make sure she had it directly in the middle. 

Once she was convinced it was perfect she stood upright and put the blade behind the puck. She breathed out gently to relax herself. She then pushed the stick forward, focusing on keeping it straight, to send the puck toward the goal. This one was much closer than the first but it again curled off to the right and missed. This made her gasp and she turned with a distraught look on her face “What in the world? I pushed it straight.”

Nicole felt kind of bad that Waverly was getting frustrated. She moved over to where Waverly was and motioned to the spot she had just taken the shot from “Okay, put another puck there.”

Waverly eyed Nicole curiously before deciding she was being sincere. She slid another puck into the same spot then looked up with a shrug “Okay?”

“Now line up your shot again” Nicole moved out of the way so Waverly could take her place on the left side of the puck and line up her shot. Once she was in place Nicole slid closer to her. “Okay, first, you’re too far away from the puck. You don’t want to just…” She motioned to the length of the stick and how Waverly held it at the end. She laughed a little at how she was standing “This isn’t golf. It’s not about the force of the swing. You have to use your weight.”

“How?” Waverly scooted closer to the puck now. She adjusted her grip on the stick so she was holding it a little closer to the flat blade that sat against the ice. She looked up and shrugged now “Like this?”

“Better.” Nicole reached out now and tapped Waverly’s right hand “You want your dominant hand to sit lower on the stick. This hand guides your shot.” She slid around Waverly so she wasn’t reaching across her body because, well, she did not want to invade her personal space. She tapped Waverly’s left hand and then pointed up higher on the stick “This one provides the balance. So it’s like…” She pointed to Waverly’s right hand again and nodded “This is your pivot point, right? Everything below this point is moving forward. Everything above…” She motioned to the rest of the stick that her left hand now held and smiled “It shouldn’t move too much.”

Waverly gave a single nod. She eyed how she gripped the stick. She lifted the stick off the ice so she didn’t accident flick the puck since Nicole was in front of her now. She moved the stick a little bit back and forth then looked up curiously “Like that?”

“Yeah, basically” Nicole nodded then moved to guide the stick back to the ice. She then slid around behind Waverly and tapped her left foot “So this foot stays planted while you shoot. Again, it’s your balance.” She then tapped Waverly’s right foot before she bent down and took hold of it. She lifted it off the ice slightly and looked up softly at Waverly when she squeaked in surprise “Don’t worry. I will catch you if you fall.”

Waverly’s eyes fluttered and her heart skipped a beat. She knew Nicole meant if she fell on the ice but the way Nicole had looked at her so tenderly made her think that if she ended up falling for Nicole that the girl would be there with open arms. That was a scary thought.

Luckily Nicole hadn’t noticed Waverly’s reaction to the words. She had continued talking as her eyes fell back to the skate she held “This is your counter balance. The harder your wrist shot and more angle you put under it the more your foot will need to lift. Does that make sense?”

Waverly nodded quickly. She was glad she had paid attention in geometry. Hockey was basically just a game of finding the right angles. When Nicole let go of her skate she offered a little smile then looked back to the puck. She once more lifted the stick to practice the motion she should make. She then set it back down on the ice and glanced over her shoulder at Nicole. She perked an eyebrow now slightly “You want me to take the shot?”

“Go ahead” Nicole said with a laugh. “Let’s see if I’m as good at teaching as I am at playing.”

“But you haven’t gone yet” Waverly said with a little shrug.

Nicole waved it off and shook her head “If you let me take my next shot with my eyes open we will call it even.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh at that. She knew without a doubt that Nicole would make it if she had her eyes open but Waverly wasn’t as opposed to that as she had been at first. She was curious about what question Nicole would ask. So she looked back to the puck, took a moment to remember what she had just learned, and then put all of that into action. With a quick flick of her wrist she sent the puck sailing over the ice with much more accuracy than her previous shots. She straightened where she stood and her smile grew as she realized the puck was heading into the goal.

“Alright!” Nicole cheered out loudly as she saw the shot slide into the goal.

Waverly squealed with joy and turned around to face Nicole quickly. She threw her hands up in victory and laughed out loudly “Did you see that?”

“It was a great shot” Nicole agreed with a happy nod. Her smile was impossibly wide as she watched Waverly bounce around in excitement. She had never met a girl who was so completely intoxicating in all she did.

“Well I had a great teacher” Waverly said with a happy nod. She skated over to Nicole and offered her the stick before motioning behind herself to the goal she had just made. “So I get to ask you anything, huh?”

“Anything” Nicole said with a smile but in a serious tone.

Waverly’s smile turned from happy to slightly shy. She perked an eyebrow slowly and as she spoke her tone was soft “What made you want to ask me out?”

Nicole breathed out a laugh as if she could not believe that Waverly even had to ask. Her smile never faded as her eyes focused on the girl. She looked at her directly so Waverly would see that she was not being anything but honest “Since the moment we met I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and I have never experienced that in my entire life.”

Waverly couldn’t fight the blush that came over her features now. The honesty of the words mixed with the intensity of Nicole’s gaze really shook her to her core. She had to look away. She drew in a deep breath to steady herself and after a moment she looked back up at Nicole. She offered her another shy smile and nodded her head “Okay. It’s your turn.”

Nicole bit her lip and felt for just a moment that she might have upset Waverly with her answer. She was simply a straight shooter. She was blunt and saw no point in lying. Some people couldn’t handle that. She hoped that didn’t scare Waverly away. But then Waverly gaver her a soft smile and she felt alright about it. So instead of elaborating on the subject she decided to take her turn so the subject could change. She skated up to a puck and pulled it away from the pile. She skated backwards with it, taking it behind the blue line, and moving it to the red line that marked the center of the rink. She perked an eyebrow at Waverly and motioned to where she stood “I’m going to shoot from here.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh and gave her head a little shake “You don’t have to do that. I got to take two shots in a row. It’s only fair you get to take one with your eyes open.”

“You and I both know that’s a gimme” Nicole laughed out softly. She pointed to the goal now from where she stood and gave a nod “This is a little more challenging. I want to earn my questions.”

Waverly just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She skated a little closer to where Nicole was lining up her shot now “Maybe you just want to show off some more.”

“That too” Nicole agreed with an overly wide grin. She gave Waverly a wink and then her smile faded again. Once more concentration washed over her features as she eyed her shot. She licked at her lips a few times and after a moment she gave a quick flick of her wrist, lifting her back leg to counterbalance the strength of her shot, as she sent the puck flying. She watched it soar over the ice before it landed ten feet short of the goal. It skipped just once against the surface of the ice before bouncing up into the air again. Luckily by the time it bounce it had crossed the goal line and the net in the goal prevented it from going any further.

Waverly’s jaw dropped. She knew how hard it was to make a shot from center ice. Sure, there was no goalie and no one in her way, but it was still impressive. She looked over at Nicole and gave her head an impressed shake “That was amazing.”

Nicole just lifted a single shoulder in a shrug as a cocky smile flickered at one corner of her mouth. She moved her feet just enough cause herself to slide over to Waverly without much effort. She looked down at the girl and once more her amusement and smile faded. Her face was serious and yet still held a flicker of hope in her light features as she spoke “Go on another date with me?”

“Is that…” Waverly was surprised at the question and it showed. She stared at Nicole with her jaw dropped open slightly for a few long moments. Then she blinked it away and a breath of a laugh rose into the air “Is that your question?”

Nicole nodded quickly. Her hand reached up now and she brushed some of Waverly’s long, wavy locks back behind her ear as her thumb brushed her cheek. She gave her a very tender smile as her hopeful gaze met with Waverly’s surprised eyes “It’s all I want. I know you had to think about it the first time so I understand if you want to take-”

“Yes” Waverly cut Nicole off as she nearly spat the word out. Realizing she might have sounded too eager she blushed and bit her bottom lip. She gave a single nod and cleared her throat before trying again “I’d love to go on another date with you.”

“Yeah?” Nicole’s face lit up like a firework exploding in the sky. When Waverly nodded to confirm she threw her hands up in the air and skated backwards away from the girl. She held a wide smile as she used the stick she still held to point at Waverly. She kept her focus on the girl as she circled her, pointing at her the entire time, until she came around the front of her again. She then moved the stick so she held it right in the center. She lifted it up straight out so it was parallel to the ice. She held it like that for a few seconds then opened her hand and let the stick fall. It was very obvious she was mimicking the motion of a mic drop.

Waverly couldn’t help but laugh now. She gave her head an amused shake as her smile spread over her entire mouth and lit up every feature on her face. She motioned to the stick lying on the ice and laughed out the question “What in the world was that?”

“My new goal celebration. Do you like it?” Nicole said with a gleeful laugh as she slid over to the stick and scooped it up without stopping on the ice. Once she had it back in her hands she straightened up and turned back around to face Waverly since she had skated passed her.

“You’re going to do that every time you score this season?” Waverly asked with amusement still lifting her tone.

“Not every time” Nicole said with a little shrug and a soft laugh. “Just the big goals, you know? Game winners or when I nail a slapshot that makes it in clean.” She bit her lip and used the stick to motion to Waverly before adding “Or when the pretty girl says yes to a date.”

Waverly blushed again. She gave her eyes a roll as if to say the words had annoyed her but it failed and she was smiling again. She let out a soft, happy sigh as she focused her eyes on Nicole “You’re incorrigible.”

“And you’re beautiful” Nicole replied with a wink. She moved her feet to direct herself toward the bench now. She motioned for Waverly to follow and soon they were off the ice and removing their skates. Their chatter was a lot lighter and more comfortable as they got back into their normal shoes than went to gather their coats. It was getting late and the last thing Nicole wanted to do was keep Waverly out too long and make her parents mad. Well, she assumed they would be mad. She hadn’t really asked anything about her family. She would definitely have to do that on their second date.

After bundling back up for the cold they had rushed to the car. Nicole had started it as soon as she could but it was an old car so it was taking a moment to warm up. As they sat there shivering in the car waiting for the heat to kick in Nicole reached up and unwrapped the scarf she wore around her neck. She turned and quickly looped it around the back of Waverly’s neck. She gave her a smile as she flung each side of the scarf over each shoulder to keep it in place. She nodded once it stayed then turned to crank the heat in hopes that the air that came out was warm.

Waverly was surprised by the gesture. She didn’t know why she was surprised. Nicole had been thoughtful and kind the entire night. Still it was the little things that mattered and the entire night had been made up of a lot of perfect little things. So she didn’t say anything about the scarf. She just took it for what it was, a kind gesture, and simply lifted her hands to pull it a little more tightly around herself. 

The ride back to Jeremy’s mainly consisted of the two of them shivering. There wasn’t much chatter. Once they arrived Nicole got out and once more pulled Waverly’s door open for her. She gave the girl a smile as she helped her out of the car and onto the curb. She motioned to the house and gave a shy shrug “I’m going to guess you don’t want me to walk you to your door.”

Waverly’s nose crinkled and her head shook slightly. It would be weird because, well, it was not her house. She felt bad. She really needed to tell Nicole about Wynonna. But not right now. The night had been too perfect to ruin. She would do it later. “I don’t want to wake anyone up” She finally said. That was true. She most definitely did not want to disturb Jeremy’s parents. They worked hard.

“I get it” Nicole said with a nod and a gentle smile. “Is it okay if I wait out here until you go inside? I mean…” She motioned around the completely dark and empty street and shrugged “...who knows what terrors are lurking in the shadows.”

Waverly let out a soft laugh and nodded at the notion. Then, before things could turn awkward because neither of them knew what the next move would be, she lifted onto her toes and very gently placed a kiss against Nicole’s cheek. Once she lowered back down she stepped away and gave Nicole a very light smile “Thank you for tonight. It was really nice.”

“No problem” Nicole breathed out softly. Her eyes focused on Waverly as she walked now toward the front door of the house. She waited until Waverly paused at the doorway and gave her a wave before she moved. She lifted her hand to offer a wave in return before she finally turned around and headed back to the driver side of her car. Once she slid back into her seat and settled there her smile grew. Her hand lifted and she lightly brushed her fingertips across the spot where Waverly’s lips had touched her cheek. She couldn’t believe it. The girl that had come out of nowhere and taken over her brain had kissed her cheek. If this was the moment her life came to a tragic and unexpected end than she would die completely happy.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	7. #7 - Phil Esposito

The rest of the weekend had gone by excruciatingly slowly for Nicole. All she had wanted was for it to be Monday so she would have a reason to see Waverly. She had wanted to text and ask her to hang out again but she did not want to seem too eager. So instead she had texted a few times just to touch base and have a casual chat. It went pretty well and by the time Sunday night rolled around she could not wait to go to bed so she could wake up for school. It was weird because that was something she had never been excited about before in her entire life. Even weirder was the fact that she hadn’t thought about hockey once since they had left the rink on Saturday night.

It was now early Monday morning and everyone was slowly getting ready for practice. Nedley had decided that the team needed two practices a day. They were not performing to the level that he wanted and with the season drawing closer they needed all the work they could get. Nicole didn’t mind. It was nice to not have to practice in silence. When it was just herself and Wynonna they barely spoke and it made the time go by slowly. At least now there would be more people to interact with.

“Hey, Haught” Wynonna sat on the edge of the bench where she had just finished tying her skates before practice. Most of the girls had already made their way out to the ice but the few that were still in the locker room looked at Wynonna curiously. Her tone had been calm. It was almost like she had called for the attention of on old friend.

Nicole looked up from where she was taping up a rip in the pair of old gloves she was borrowing from the trainer until her new ones came in. She looked around, as if really trying to decide if she had heard her name, before her eyes focused on Wynonna. She perked an eyebrow slightly when their eyes met in a silent asking if she had called her name.

Wynonna gave a flick of her chin to indicate she wanted Nicole to move over to her.

Nicole looked around again. She was on high alert for anything that seemed off. She couldn’t be sure that this wasn’t another trap. The few girls still lingering in the locker room looked just as surprised as Nicole felt, though, so it seemed that this wasn’t an elaborate set up for another prank.

Deciding it was safe, Nicole stood now from where she had been sitting. She moved down between the row of lockers until she was standing up next to where Wynonna was sitting. Her curious eyebrow remained arched on her forehead as she looked down at her “Uh, yeah?”

Wynonna patted the bench next to her and motioned for Nicole to take a seat.

“I’m good here” Nicole pointed to the spot where she stood and nodded.

“That’s fair” Wynonna conceded with a nod as she pushed herself off the bench to standing. This brought them nearly face to face. Nicole had just an inch of height on Wynonna so it made it pretty easy to stand up in front of her and not feel intimidated. Not that many people intimidated Wynonna. She was pretty fearless. 

Letting out a sigh at herself as the thought passed she lifted her eyes to meet Nicole’s. She spoke very softly now so that the others still hanging around could not hear what she had to say. “Look I just wanted to say…” She looked around and suddenly felt way too exposed. She rolled her eyes at that and leaned in close to Nicole to mumble at her “imsorry.”

“What was that?” Nicole blinked and pulled her face away from the way that Wynonna had leaned into her. She looked more confused than ever. Wynonna was acting weird.

“Come on, man” Wynonna grumbled and looked around again. When she realized everyone was watching them she gave her head a little shake. She motioned for Nicole to follow and moved toward the back of the locker room where the bathroom stalls were. She looked around to make sure the area was empty before she turned back around to look at Nicole. She shrugged just once and let out a deflating sigh “Look, I’m not good at this shit, okay? But I’m trying to say sorry.”

“Trying?” Nicole perked her eyebrow even higher on her forehead somehow. She looked a little stunned at the bluntness of the confession. She honestly didn’t think that Wynonna knew what the word sorry meant. She gave her head a shake and breathed out a short laugh as her arms now folded across her chest “You’re right. You are not very good at this shit.”

“Look” Wynonna threw her hand out to the side in a bit of frustration. She did not like being taunted when she was trying to do something nice. “I’ve been shitty and, like, I guess you don’t deserve that. I just…” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms now as the exposed feeling came back to her. “I am protective of the things I love and I love hockey, okay? And you’ve always been that, like, one person who was a legit threat to me or whatever so I’ve been a bit of a dickbag to you since you got here.”

“A bit?” Nicole huffed out.

“Dude, listen, you’re making this really fucking hard to get through” Wynonna pointed at Nicole with a flash of annoyance in her eyes. Then she realized she was meant to be sincere and she quickly dropped her hand and the scowl on her face. She blinked once and let out a sigh “It’s not helping either of us acting the way we are. Yeah, I’ll admit, I’ve been egging you on but it’s gone too far. We’re already missing a game and I don’t wanna miss anymore so…” 

She looked around quickly to once more make sure no one was around to witness the scene that was unfolding. She then looked back to Nicole and extended her hand to her in a sincere gesture of solidarity. “I’m sorry for my shit. I promise it’s gonna stop.”

Nicole looked skeptical. She eyed Wynonna carefully as if she were trying to detect a lie. She was quiet for a few long moments, letting Wynonna stand there with her hand extended in wait, while she contemplated whether or not she believed her. Finally, after the voice of Waverly echoed in her head about how she should give Wynonna a break, she reached out and took hold of the extended hand “I forgive you. But I don’t trust you.”

“And I don’t trust you” Wynonna admitted with a shrug as their hands shook a few times. Then she pulled her hand away and wiped it on the leg of her practice pants “But we’re teammates or whatever so we’re going to have to work together.”

“I can do that” Nicole said with a quick nod. “We want the same thing.”

Wynonna gave a single nod at that. She eyed Nicole up and down once then finally stepped by her “Alright, whatever. See you out there.”

Nicole was surprised by how quickly Wynonna had left. She watched her go and once she was alone she huffed out a laugh. She wasn’t sure the intentions had been sincere but she was going to give it a shot. If it got Wynonna off her back for even a short time it was worth it. Besides she had bigger things to focus on. She needed to fine tune her slapshot. She also needed to get through practice so she could see Waverly. She smiled at that. It was nice to have something other than hockey to think about.

Wynonna grumbled under her breath to herself as she gathered her things and practically stomped toward the ice. No one dared say anything about it but there was no doubt they had all seen the two of them talking. It was sure to be all the other girls talked about for the rest of the week. Whatever. That didn’t matter. All that mattered was focusing on hockey and playing as many games in front of as many scouts as she could. So she had stepped up and taken a hit to her pride so that she could do the right thing for herself, for Waverly, and give herself the best chance she could of getting out of Purgatory forever.

~.~.~.~.~.

Nicole’s sneakers screeched across the linoleum tile in the hallway as she skidded to a stop right in front of Waverly’s open locker. When her sudden arrival brought Waverly’s attention up from what she was doing, Nicole let out a soft laugh and lifted a casual shrug with one shoulder as if she had not been sprinting down the hall to get to her before she left “Hey.”

Waverly could not help but laugh at how nonchalant Nicole was acting. She had to admit she really liked how goofy the girl was. She perked an eyebrow and tried to fight her smile off as she looked back to the books she had been sorting through “Hey yourself. Where’s the fire?”

“No fire” Nicole said casually with a shake of her head. “I run everywhere. Keeps me in shape.”

“You’re full of shit” Waverly said plainly but with a smile on her lips as she glanced back to Nicole. One of the greatest things about growing up with Wynonna as a sister was the fact that Waverly could detect bullshit from a mile away. It was a gift, really.

Nicole laughed very softly and gave another calm shrug “Alright, fine, I really wanted to see you before you went to class.”

Waverly blushed slightly because, well, she was still getting used to how straightforward Nicole was about her feelings toward her. She gave a nod to indicate she had heard before pulling the book she needed out of her locker and stuffing it into her backpack. “Mission accomplished.”

Nicole smirked very slightly because Waverly was not as good at playing it cool as she was. When she saw the girl shut her locker and start down the hall she quickly followed so she wouldn’t lose her “So, hey, I had an idea about our second date that I wanted to run by you.”

Waverly perked an eyebrow and glanced up at Nicole with a slight smile on her lips. Their first date had been so great she wasn’t sure anything could top it. She was curious, though, about what Nicole had planned. The girl always kept her guessing and she really loved it “I’m all ears.”

“So” Nicole quickened her pace so she could walk in front of Waverly, backwards so she was facing her, before she launched into her thoughts. “I remember from the other night that you said you love History and I looked it up and there’s like a super awesome History Museum that’s not too far from here and I was wondering if you wanted to go?”

“Watch-” Waverly grabbed Nicole’s arm and tugged her to the side quickly when the girl nearly plowed into a group of kids just outside the library. She looked up at Nicole in a way that looked as if she was asking if she was nuts to be walking backwards through the school. That look faded quickly, though, when Nicole mentioned the museum. She blinked and stopped in her tracks to stare at the girl in shock. It lasted only a few seconds and was quickly replaced with a humbled sounding breath of a laugh as a smile came over her lips “Not far from here? It’s like a three hour drive.”

Once more an unconcerned shrug was lifted on Nicole’s shoulders “I’m free all day Saturday.”

“Isn’t there a hockey game on Saturday?” Waverly asked even though she already knew there was.

“I’m not playing in it…” Nicole trailed off and rolled her eyes at that. She shook off her annoyance at Wynonna for getting her banned for one game and refocused back on Waverly “So we could go then. I mean…” For the first time since their conversation had started Nicole seemed unsure as she motioned weakly to Waverly “...if you wanna go.”

“I would love to go” Waverly stammered quickly. She fought off a smile as excitement started to rise within her. She rocked up into her toes then back down before bouncing her head in a few eager nods “Sure, let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” Nicole’s uncertainty faded and was replaced with relief as a smile returned to her lips. “So I’ll pick you up around eight, then? We can grab some lunch when we get there then walk around for a few hours. Whatever you want.” She clapped her hands together once before moving her hands to her chest to grip onto the straps of the backpack she wore. She could feel her own excitement boiling over where she stood and she was trying to contain it.

“Sounds good” Waverly confirmed with a nod as her own smile grew. The sight of Nicole standing there looking absolutely giddy in front of her was almost too cute to bear. She had never had anyone be this excited over her. 

“I gotta get to class” Nicole motioned behind her with one of her thumbs now. “But I will see you later, okay?”

“Of course” Waverly assured her with yet another nod. Then right as Nicole turned to leave something came to her. She reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her from walking away just yet. “Hey” Her voice lowered as soon as Nicole looked back at her. She glanced around and suddenly her face was overtaken with guilt. “Could you do me a favor?”

“Anything” Nicole agreed without hesitation. Her own face now curled in concern because of the way Waverly had so suddenly went from smiling to frowning. She stepped closer to the girl so that she would not have to speak her request too loudly and gave her a nod.

“Could you keep this…” Waverly whispered now since Nicole had leaned close “....between you and I for now? Not that I’m ashamed or embarrassed or anything. It’s just that…” She sighed because she felt totally awful asking this. She just had not had time to tell Wynonna and the last thing she wanted was for her sister to find out from someone else that she was spending time with Nicole. Especially after she had demanded she stay away. “It’s a small town and people talk and-”

“It’s cool” Nicole straightened up from how she had leaned down. She gave her a sincere smile as her eyes met Waverly’s gaze. There was not an ounce of hesitation or hurt in her gaze as she spoke “I get it. Your family doesn’t know and no one else should be the one to tell them but you.”

“Yeah…” Waverly blinked in surprise because she had not expected Nicole to be so understanding. “That’s exactly it. Thank you.”

“Been there” Nicole let out a breath of a laugh then winked at Waverly to show they were totally cool. “Anyway, gotta jet” She motioned behind her again and started to back pedal. She let her eyes linger on Waverly and once more her smile returned. She gave a quick wave then pointed to Waverly “Nice scarf, by the way.” At the last of her words she turned now and started to jog toward her next class so she would not be late.

Waverly looked down at the scarf she wore and immediately blushed. She had worn the scarf Nicole had put around her the night of their date. She had done it as a way of reminding herself to give it back. The fact that Nicole had caught her wearing it was only a little embarrassing. She didn’t want Nicole to think it meant anything deeper. The last thing she needed was the girl thinking they were officially dating or something when, really, they were just getting to know each other. She did not want to get serious with Nicole for so many reasons. The first reason, most obviously, was Wynonna.

She let out a sigh at the thought of her sister as her fingers slid over the soft scarf she was now all too aware was around her neck. She had to tell them. It had to come from her. She knew without a doubt that if either of them found out from another source that they would both hate her forever. She had always been so good at managing every situation she had ever been faced with so how in the world had she screwed this one up so badly? She had to fix it. Soon.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Nicole had arrived a little early to practice after school that day. She had been in a good mood and hurried right over. She had hoped to get on the ice and be all warmed up by the time the rest of the girls arrived. It was just part of her work ethic as a player. She wanted to be the one on the team to work the hardest as a way of showing the others she was seriously committed to the team.

As she approached the door to the rink she heard a few muffled shouts. She stopped in her steps and turned her head slightly to see if she could catch what was being said. As the voice rose again she couldn’t make out what was being talked about but she could tell where it was coming from. So she slowly walked toward the sounds and as she drew closer the words started to become more clear.

“You have always been nothing but trouble and you are dragging my name through the mud” A man’s voice, clearly heavy with anger, lifted into the air. “How do you think I feel hearing my daughter is causing trouble on the team? It makes me look like I can’t control my own home.”

“Well you can’t” The second voice was that of a girl, an obviously younger girl, and the words came through with a hint of a laugh in them.

“What did you just say to me?” The man’s voice rose again and, somehow, the anger in his tone multiplied with the volume of his words.

“I said you can’t control your home. Why the Hell do you think Momma and Willa left your sorry ass.”

Nicole had drawn close enough to realize the argument was coming from outside the building, just around the corner from the front door to the rink. She had quietly approached and when she was close enough she poked her head around the corner. That is when she saw Wynonna yelling at her father about her mother leaving him. That is also when she saw the Sheriff draw his hand back in the air.

“Hey Earp!” Nicole yelped out quickly and stepped into view of the other two now. She blinked in surprise because she had not consciously decided to step in. It had been like a reflex or something. Her body had moved by itself and the words had formed and come from her mouth without her thinking about it. So now she stood there frozen.

Ward quickly dropped his hand and cast a scowl at the interruption. He opened his mouth to unleash what was sure to be something ugly but was cut off by Nicole suddenly finding words again.

“Coach was looking for you” She spat out as her eyes widened in surprise at herself. She had no idea where this was coming from. She had seen a situation where someone needed help and she had stepped in without thinking of the consequences. She blinked a few times then looked from Wynonna to the Sheriff and back again “He said it was an emergency.”

Wynonna cast a quick side glance to her father before bending down to scoop up her equipment bag she had with her. She didn’t say anything. She just walked away from the man as fast as she could. Each step seemed more urgent than the last. As she drew closer to Nicole she glanced at her and in the split second that their eyes met there was a very real sense of gratitude. It faded as Wynonna looked away and rounded the corner to head into the building.

Nicole watched Wynonna go. Once she was inside she glanced back to the Sheriff who was still standing there. Their eyes met for just a heartbeat but when they had she saw a deep rage burning in the man’s eyes and it was terrifying. Looking away, she quickly moved into the building now. She hurried her pace until she caught up to where Wynonna was moving down the hallway toward Nedley’s office. “Hey, Earp, wait up!”

Wynonna stopped and whirled around on the spot. Her face was devoid of any color. She looked terrified, still, and there was no fighting that feeling now. When she saw Nicole jogging up to her she tried to roll her eyes but it fell flat. So she just let out a defeated sounding sigh and shrugged at her “What is it? I’m on my way to talk to Nedley.”

“Oh, I made that up” Nicole waved it off with a huff of a breath because she had jogged the entire length of the hallway with her heavy equipment bag and she was kind of out of breath now. She looked Wynonna over slowly then realized she was examining her and quickly shook her head. She cleared her throat and motioned behind herself “Hey, uh, is everything cool?”

Wynonna managed to really roll her eyes now because Nicole was either really dense or really bad at playing it cool. She gave her head a little shake and motioned in the same direction that Nicole had just pointed “My dad is a total ass hat who just needs to eat a dick.”

Nicole just gave a single nod. She once more eyed Wynonna up and down carefully. This time she read body language and facial features and could see that the usual tough demeanor that Wynonna carried with her was not intact. She looked small and vulnerable. This twisted Nicole’s gut. She didn’t really know the girl and they had barely had a single good interaction and yet she felt bad for her now. No one deserved to be yelled at like that by their parents. Not even Wynonna.

If there was one thing in the world that could drive Wynonna Earp crazy within just a couple of seconds it was someone looking at her with pity. She hated it. She could take care of herself and she didn’t need anyone’s help. Nicole was looking at her as if she was made of glass in that moment and she felt her anger rising at an alarming rate. It was a defense mechanism and right now her defenses were at their peak. When she spoke next all vulnerability was gone and there was a fire in her eyes as she hissed at Nicole “The last thing I need is your pity.”

“No, hey” Nicole could see she had upset Wynonna. She lifted her hands in a motion of surrender and took a few steps back. “Not at all, dude. I was just making sure everything was chill. My dad used to yell at me, too, and I know it sucks.” Okay so her dad had only really yelled at her once but it did suck so that wasn’t a lie.

“You don’t know anything about my life so don’t you dare pretend you do” Wynonna’s words seemed to sizzle in the air as she snarled them out. “Now move” She didn’t wait for Nicole to oblige her request. Instead she shoved passed her, knocking Nicole into the wall as she did so. Her head was shaking, her feet pounding below her with each step, as she made her way to the locker room. She wasn’t sure if she was more pissed at her dad or the fact that Nicole had seen what had nearly unfolded. Either way her entire body was vibrating with rage and she knew she needed to get out on that ice and release some of that rage. It was her only real release and right now she needed it like a junkie needed a fix.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

“So now you have your little friends fighting your battles for you?” Ward yelled out as his hand came down and swiped all of the little knick knacks off of the coffee table what was in front of where he sat on the couch.

Wynonna had come home after practice and her dad was still mad. He was now drunk which was enhancing his anger. He had started yelling at her as soon as she walked through the door. She was just standing in the living room now, coat still on, backpack still hanging off one shoulder, and her keys to her truck still in her hand. She had barely taken two steps into the room before she had been forced to dodge an incoming beer bottle that had been chucked at her head.

“Not so witty now that there’s no one around to save you, huh?” He stood now from the couch. He did so a little too quickly and his balance, impaired by the alcohol, failed him and he fell back to sitting. He shook his head and tried again. This time he managed to stay on his feet before pointing at Wynonna “Come on don’t get quiet on me now. What were you saying earlier about me not being able to control my home?”

Wynonna just shook her head because she knew anything she said would just provoke him. He was terrifying enough when he was angry and sober. When he was drunk there was no way of knowing how far he would go or if he would be able to stop himself. Waverly wasn’t home, she had gone to Jeremy’s to study, so Wynonna knew there wasn’t anyone to step in. She was a fighter and she would never back down from anyone. The one exception was her father. He was the only person on the planet that intimidated her.

“Answer me god damn it!” Ward yelled and threw the beer he had been drinking out of at Wynonna now. It crashed against the wall near her head, splashing Wynonna where she stood. He stared at her with his chest heaving as he drew in large breaths in an attempt to focus on her. Feeling like he could make it to her without falling he took a few quick steps in her direction “If you don’t wanna talk now I’ll just beat it out of you!”

Wynonna’s eyes went wide as she saw the man stumbling at her quickly. She barely had time to react. She saw his arm lift and his fist come swinging at her. Luckily he was wobbly and uncoordinated due to the alcohol so all she had to do was duck and step to the side. The man swung through and stumbled off balance right into wall behind where Wynonna had been. His face smacked one of the pictures that hung there and the both Ward and the picture fell to the floor with a crash.

Ward groaned and rolled over to his back. He lifted his hand to his face and saw blood there. Some glass from the picture frame had cut his face in the fall. He squinted his eyes to focus and once he realized what he was seeing he looked up at Wynonna in surprise “You hit me?”

“Hell no. Your drunk ass did that to yourself” Wynonna mumbled and stepped away from him. She moved through the living room freely now that there was not a threat of being beaten. She walked into the kitchen and rummaged around for a few moments. When she returned she had a wet cloth in her hands and an old doughnut in her mouth. She then walked over to the little table that sat near the door where her dad’s car keys, wallet, and other various things sat. She picked up his wallet and rifled through it for a moment before pulling out some cash.

“Here” She turned now and tossed the wet cloth at her father who had managed to pull himself up to a sitting position. He was leaning back against the wall because he could not sit up on his own. “Clean yourself up. I’m going to get Waverly.” Without another word she left the house. She made her way to her truck quickly and after starting it and taking off down the road she found her cellphone. She pressed call, because she knew the last number she had called had been her sister’s, then put the phone to her ear as she focused on the road now.

“Wynonna?” Waverly sounded surprised on the other end of the phone. She knew her sister only called if it was an emergency. 

“Hey babygirl. You still at Jeremy’s?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m coming to get you so don’t leave” Wynonna said with a soft sigh.

Waverly could tell something was wrong and she was immediately filled with concern. “He can bring me home. He doesn’t mind.”

“We’re not going home tonight” Wynonna said quickly. She paused and drew in a deep breath to calm herself down. As she released it she nodded against the phone “You still have that bag of clothes and shit?”

Waverly nodded against the phone even though she knew her sister couldn’t see it. She didn’t need to ask what was wrong now. She knew. “It’s here at Jeremy’s.”

“We’re gonna need it tonight” Wynonna’s words came out weakly. She hated that her little sister had to go through this sort of thing. She wished more than anything she could protect her.

“I’ll see you in a little bit” Waverly didn’t argue and didn’t ask any questions. She knew what it all meant. Their dad was drunk and looking for a fight which meant it just wasn’t safe to go home. Usually they would just hide out in the barn because it had a huge door that was held shut with a large latching piece of wood. But it was too cold to do that right now. 

So their back up plan was a hotel. They usually got the cheapest room they could find in the grossest hotel in town. It depended on how much money they had. Both of them were pretty good at saving up for such occasions and sometimes they got nicer rooms. Luckily tonight Wynonna had managed to take some cash from her dad so they could at least find a place that served breakfast in the morning. Wynonna sighed at that. She longed for the days when a hot breakfast and safe place to sleep weren’t a luxury anymore. 

~.~.~.~.~.

“I was lucky this time” Wynonna huffed out as she tossed her bag onto the bed once they were in the hotel room. By the time she had swung by the get Waverly the girl had already found the best rates on rooms in town. They took a few minutes to count out their money and realized they had enough for a pretty good room. So they had quickly called up to book it then headed that way. Now, though, they were settling in as Wynonna recalled what had unfolded at home.

“So he didn’t hit you?” Waverly sounded relieved as she set her backpack on the second bed in the room.

“He was too sloppy. He tried, though” Wynonna just shrugged it off. She moved over to the heating unit on the wall and cranked it up. The winter was getting colder and being outside for any amount of time chilled you right to the bone. Once the heater was going she turned and started to shrug out of her coat “You know the worst part?”

“All of it” Waverly mumbled as she settled in the middle of her bed and started to unzip her backpack in search of the homework she still had.

Wynonna half shrugged because that was true. It all sucked. She then shook her head and sat down on her bed with a huff “He came to the rink and caught me before practice. Apparently some loud mouth told him about how I was suspended for our first preseason game and he decided to come give me a piece of his mind.”

“Oh no” Waverly looked up from the notebook she had been flipping through. Her face creased in concern and she spoke in a nervous breath “Did anyone see?”

Wynonna rolled her eyes as she threw the boot she had just pulled off her foot across the room “Stupid Nicole Haught.”

Waverly’s heart fluttered with a panic at the mention of Nicole. She blinked a few times and was glad Wynonna was too busy fighting with her other boot to notice how her face had drained of color. She quickly tried to shake it away and looked back to her notebook “What, uh..” She cleared her throat and tried to act natural as she asked “...what did she say?”

Wynonna just shrugged as she threw her second boot across the room with a little more umph than she had meant to. It thunked off the wall, bounced into the lamp, then landed on the floor. She shrugged at that then turned and looked at her sister “She was looking at me all concerned and shit like she really cares. She’s so fake and it’s annoying because everyone is starting to like her on the team, you know? She has everyone fooled. I know she’s not as nice as she pretends. She is just waiting to sabotage us all or something.”

“Wynonna…” Waverly sighed now and looked up to her sister. She gave her an almost disappointed look before speaking to her gently “You always see the worst in people. Especially if they are a threat to you. But there is room for the both of you on that team and from what I’ve seen I think she’s actually a genuinely nice person.”

“So you’re taking her side?” Wynonna huffed and got up off the bed now. She moved over to the bag of clothing that Waverly had grabbed from Jeremy’s and started to dig through it. 

“I’m not taking sides” Waverly said calmly because she did not want to start an argument. “I just know how you get. You like to be the star on the team. You like being the center of attention and when someone comes in that takes the spotlight off you even the slightest bit you get defensive.”

“I’m not defensive” Wynonna snapped out. She then immediately realized what she had done and let out a heavy breath. She turned around from where she had been digging through the bag and gave Waverly a slight frown “I’m sorry.”

Waverly just gave a flick of her wrist as if batting it out of the air. She knew her sister better than anyone and she knew how fired up their father could get her. She was on high alert. Her fight or flight response did not contain the flight option. It was always fight with Wynonna and Waverly understood that. So she was not at all offended by her sister’s outburst.

Instead she just shrugged and looked back down to her notebook again. She was quiet for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say next. When she had figured it out she looked back up and was glad to see Wynonna had gone back to digging in the bag of clothes. “She’s nice, Wynonna, and she’s trying to be a part of the team despite your best efforts to torture her. Maybe you should give her a chance.”

“Enough about Nicole Haught” Wynonna gave an annoyed roll of her eyes as she moved away from the bag now that she had found something to sleep in. She moved toward the bathroom to change but did not close the door behind her. Instead she spoke loudly enough that Waverly could still hear her as she changed “I apologized to her. I bet you didn’t know that.”

It was evident by the surprised blink from Waverly that she definitely had not been privy to that. She shook her head and slid to the edge of her bed now. She could only see a flash of Wynonna’s movements with how the bathroom was around the corner from her bed but she looked in that direction anyway as she spoke to her sister “You apologized?”

“Yeah” Wynonna made quick work of changing and was already done by the time Waverly spoke. She came out of the bathroom now, tossing her dirty clothes on the floor haphazardly, before moving to her bed again. She sat on the edge and reached for the takeout menu that was sitting on the table between the two beds. “We, like, shook hands and agreed to try being teammates and shit.”

“Really?” Waverly smiled very slightly at that. She had to admit she was surprised at how mature her sister was being in the moment. “When did this happen?”

“This morning, I think? I don’t know everything is blurring together lately” Wynonna shrugged then looked up at her sister. “Do you want chinese?”

“That’s fine” Waverly said with a little nod. Her smile grew as Wynonna picked up the phone to order them some food. She liked the thought that her sister was maybe not as opposed to Nicole as she had once been. Maybe telling her that they had gone on a date wouldn’t make her as mad as she had first thought. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to talk but was cut off by Wynonna speaking into the phone. She rolled her eyes and went back to her notebook while her sister finished her conversation. As soon as Wynonna had hung up she turned and opened her mouth again.

“You don’t think she’s going to tell people what she saw, do you?” Wynonna cut off Waverly without realizing it. She had reached for the remote and flipped on the tv so she had not realized her sister had been about to speak.

“Who?” Waverly’s face was once more painted with confusion.

“Haught” Wynonna mumbled. She glanced at her sister and gave a shrug “I think she overheard us yelling about Momma and Willa. Then I swear he lifted his hand to smack me and that’s when she was like suddenly there.” She looked back at the tv and shook her head “She better not say anything.”

“I…” Waverly let out a deflating breath and just decided not to tell Wynonna tonight. She was too worked up and obviously hearing her sister had been on a date with the one person she was now afraid knew too much was not a good idea. So she just settled back against the wall behind her bed and opened her textbook. “I doubt she even knows what she saw. You shouldn’t worry.”

“Good” Wynonna mumbled softly without taking her eyes off the tv. Soon the only sound in the room was the tv as the sisters settled in for the night. It was relatively quiet for a few long minutes as Waverly studied and Wynonna watched tv. As a commercial came on Wynonna’s focus shifted to her sister. She smiled very softly at her and cleared her throat so as not to startle her when she spoke “Hey you wanna do my homework next?”

Waverly rolled her eyes and looked at her sister with a look that told her that she was not amused. “No, I do not. Also why don’t you do that now before dinner comes instead of watching tv? You know you can’t get into college on hockey alone. Your grades need to be high enough for you to qualify.”

Wynonna huffed out a laugh and swung her hand to the side as if deflecting the statement her sister had just made. She looked back at the tv with a roll of her eyes “I was just kidding. Mine is already done.”

“Really?” Waverly perked an eyebrow because she didn’t quite believe it.

Wynonna coughed out a laugh and flashed a little frown at her sister “I’m not a complete fuck up. I know I need good grades to get into college.”

“I didn’t say you were a fuck up” Waverly said as a frown moved over her features now. “I would never say that.”

Wynonna’s head barely nodded. She glanced at her sister and gave a single shrug before looking back to the tv “I know, babygirl. You’re the only one who has always believed in me.”

“And I always will” Waverly smiled softly. The two sister shared a quick glance and in that moment all was alright in the world. They were safe, warm, healthy, and they had dinner coming. In the grand scheme of their lives everything was pretty shitty but in the moment everything felt okay. Sometimes, when your entire life was a shit show, you had to take any good moments you could get and enjoy them. So for the night, they would. Who knew when another moment of peace would come their way.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	8. #8 - Alex Ovechkin

Thankfully the rest of the week was pretty uneventful for the Earp girls at home. They got home and went to their rooms before their dad made it home most nights. Luckily, for whatever reason, his drunken anger did not boil over so much as to go as far as pulling Wynonna out of bed to beat her. So Wynonna usually pretended to be asleep any time she heard her dad coming down the hall. It had worked thus far and she hoped it would always be that way until the day they could get out of the house for good.

They were on the way to school Friday morning when Wynonna broke the usual silence that filled the truck as they bumped along down the road. There was not an early morning practice that day because Nedley did not want the team to be too tired for the game the next day. That meant Wynonna had gotten to sleep in an extra hour. Even so she was not one to chat in the morning. Waverly was a morning person but Wynonna usually hated to do anything but grunt until at least third period. So when she cleared her throat to get Waverly’s attention that morning the surprise was evident on her sister’s face.

“You have any plans this weekend?” She mumbled as a yawn ripped through her lips.

Waverly blinked once, focused her eyes on her sister as if trying to decide if she had really heard her correctly, then perked an eyebrow at her curiously. She not only had engaged in conversation before noon but she had also asked a personal question. Something was definitely wrong. Waverly gave a single nod and spoke very delicately “I do, actually.”

“Really?” Wynonna glanced at her sister now. She eyed her suspiciously as if she were lying to sound cool before she glanced back to the road. “I meant plans other than studying with Jeremy or working on some project at the library.”

Waverly smiled very softly and rolled her eyes at her sister’s slightly offensive comment. As if she didn’t have a life. How rude. “I know what you meant and my answer is the same. I have plans.”

Wynonna once more glanced at her sister. She could see the look on Waverly’s face that told her she was being honest. After a second of processing the information she had just received she puffed a laugh out through her nose and nodded just once.

Waverly tilted her head to the side at Wynonna’s lack of response. She watched her sister curiously for a few moments and after nothing more came from her she let out a very light laugh “Why?”

Wynonna just shrugged. She didn’t look at her sister again. She just focused her eyes on the road as she drew closer to the school now. She didn’t want to admit to Waverly that she was trying to stay out of the house all weekend because she was afraid their dad would try and make up for the beating he attempted to give her earlier in the week.

“Just thought we could hang out, I guess” She finally said as she pulled into the school parking lot and started to look for an open spot. She hated this stupid small lot that never had any decent places open. She usually just pulled her truck into an open dirt patch that she was not supposed to park in but she had gotten warned by the principal that if she did that again she would be suspended. So now came the task of parking like a regular old chump.

“Maybe on Sunday?” Waverly offered with a shrug as her eyes started to scan the lot for a spot to park as well. “I have a date on Saturday.”

Wynonna didn’t try to hide her laugh at all. It rushed out suddenly and loudly. She smirked in amusement and glanced at her sister for a moment “When did you learn how to tell a joke?”

“I mean it!” Waverly gasped and looked at her sister with a scowl. “I’ve been on plenty of dates!”

“You mean all those times you went to Champ Hardy’s house to watch him play video games?” Wynonna grumbled as she turned up a new row in the lot. “Sorry to inform you but those are not dates.”

Waverly rolled her eyes in annoyance. So she had made the mistake of hanging out with a really obnoxious teenage boy a few times. She had been a Freshman and he had been nice to her. She quickly learned he was as interesting as a pile of skulls. No, that wasn’t fair to the skulls. At least the skulls once held brains. Champ’s head was devoid of all durma matter.

“Oh a spot!” Wynonna lit up a bit as her eyes focused down the row where she could see an opening. 

“Well this is an actual date” Waverly now huffed out and folded her arms.

“Oh yeah?” Wynonna puffed out a hint of a laugh and glanced across the truck “With who?”

“Uh…” Waverly bit her lip. She supposed now was as good a time as any to tell her. “Actually, it’s with-”

“Nicole Haught!” Wynonna shouted suddenly out of anger as her truck jolted to a stop. Her eyes widened with a fiery rage and after popping her truck into park she nearly kicked her door off the hinges so she could stand up out of it. “What the Hell, man! Didn’t you see my very obvious blinker? That’s my fucking spot!”

Nicole had just whipped her car into the spot that Wynonna had been eyeing. 

Realizing that Nicole was getting out of her car and was about to come around the back of it, putting herself into plain view of the girl, Waverly quickly ducked. She laid herself across the open seat of the truck and closed her eyes. She prayed Nicole did not come too close to the truck or she would see her.

“I didn’t see your blinker” Nicole said honestly as she pulled her backpack out of the backseat of her car. She looked up at Wynonna and gave her a shrug “Sorry, man.”

“Sorry?” Wynonna’s voice rose an octave in dismay at the weak attempt of an apology from Nicole. She pounded her hand against the top of her truck then quickly dropped back into her seat. She slammed her door shut and dropped her truck back into drive. “She is going to be sorry when I slam her fake ass face into the boards…” As she muttered the words she slammed on the gas and skidded out of the parking lot. She was so blinded with rage she had not even noticed that Waverly had been laying down against the seat.

Realizing that Wynonna had taken off quickly, Waverly lifted her head and peeked out of the window. When she saw that they had left that parking area, which meant they were not near Nicole any longer, she let out a sigh and sat upright again. Then she noticed they were leaving the school lot and she let out a surprised gasp “Hey! Where are we going?”

“I am going to park in the teacher’s lot” Wynonna growled as she skipped around a corner at full speed. She then bumped up over a curb on her way into a much smaller but much more open lot on the other side of the building.

“You can’t-” Waverly was cut off as Wynonna swung into a spot then slammed the truck into park. Her sister was out of the truck and storming toward the building before Waverly could catch her breath. She quickly scrambled to gather her things before climbing out of the truck and running to catch up to Wynonna. She let out a labored breath and pointed behind her to the truck “You’re going to get a ticket!”

“Then I get a ticket” Wynonna said blandly as she pulled the door to the school open so hard it slammed against the wall. She looked down at Waverly and motioned for her to go inside. “Just get to class and let me worry about it.”

“Wynonna, I-” Waverly stopped the lecture she was about to give when she saw the look on her sister’s face. She was in no mood to hear it. So instead she just gave a nod and tried to smile “See you after practice then.”

“Whatever” Wynonna flicked her wrist in a dismissive wave then headed down the opposite hallway toward her first class. She was so annoyed that the first thing she had to see that morning was Nicole Haught stealing her parking spot. She really wished she hadn’t promised Nedley she would behave because all she wanted to do right now was draw dicks all over Nicole’s car. Maybe she could not-so-subtly convince someone to do it for her. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Hey, Wynonna, I wanted to say-” Nicole was cut off when Wynonna slammed her locker in her face and stormed off. She had come into practice with the intention of making it right because, honestly, she had not meant to piss her off that morning. But instead Wynonna wanted nothing to do with her. What else could she do? She had tried. So she just shrugged it off and went down to her locker to start getting ready for practice.

She had gotten changed pretty quickly and was sitting on the bench tying her skates when her ears perked at the sound of soft whispers. Most of the girls were already out on the ice so the locker room was pretty quiet. Nicole paused what she was doing and turned her head toward the sound to see if she could hear what was being said. It wasn’t exactly that she was nosy but she was a teenager and she did kind of like gossip. Especially if it had nothing to do with herself.

“Yeah they saw Wynonna coming out of the hotel downtown a couple mornings ago” One of the whispers came through.

“Was she with anyone?” Another voice chimed in now.

“Her little sister” The first voice came again. Then there was silence and some rustling about. The girls were obviously finishing readying themselves for practice. There were a few more seconds of nothing and then a locker slammed. The first voice spoke again “Probably has to do with her drunk dad.”

Nicole stood now and stepped around the end of the lockers to bring herself into sight of the other girls. She looked them over and her head gave a single shake “You guys should probably mind your own business.”

Both of the girls looked a little shaken by Nicole’s sudden appearance and the seriousness in her tone. The girls were both Freshman, much smaller than Nicole was, and they seemed to shrink in fear at how Nicole towered over them in that moment. 

“Do you understand?” Nicole perked an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the girls a few times. Her arms folded and she gave just one nod. “Trust me when I say you do not want Wynonna Earp on your bad side.”

The girls both nodded quickly and their eyes widened at the idea of Wynonna being mad at them. They had all seen the way Nicole had been the target of her disdain. No one would ever want to be in that place. Wynonna Earp was the type of girl that gave you one chance and if you got on her bad side she would never be nice to you again. 

“Go” Nicole stepped to the side to open enough space for the girls to exit the row of lockers now. She watched the two of them hurry off and once they were gone she let out a sigh. She didn’t really know all the facts but she felt it in her gut that something was off at home for Wynonna. Between the argument she had seen, the way Wynonna had blown up at her after she had interrupted, and what she had just heard she was starting to suspect that it was really bad. She was also starting to wonder if maybe she should say something to an adult so they could step in and, you know, protect the children like they were supposed to. The idea that Wynonna was going through something was bad enough but hearing now that she had a little sister? That nearly broke her heart to think about.

She rounded the end of the lockers again so she could go back to her own and grab her gear for practice. When she did so she saw someone standing at the other end of the row and she nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She had thought she was alone. As her eyes focused on the person she felt her heart jump into her throat. Standing at the end of the row was Wynonna. She blinked just once and tried to sound casual but her words came out in a stammer “Oh, I- I- um, th-thought you were on the ice.”

“Forgot my mouthguard” Wynonna’s tone was weak, almost deflated, and she lifted her hand to show Nicole the plastic piece she wore to protect her teeth while she played. 

Nicole gave a nod. She didn’t know what to say. She could tell just by looking at Wynonna that she had overheard the conversation. She looked vulnerable again, like she had just after Nicole had interrupted the argument with her father, and it broke Nicole’s heart to see. Wynonna was tough, there was no doubt about it. She instilled fear in everyone she played against on the ice. So to see her looking almost like she was made of glass in that moment cut deep into Nicole.

“Anyway” Wynonna realized that Nicole was looking at her like she was about to shatter. She hated that. So she rolled her eyes, pretended nothing was wrong, and slammed her locker shut. She turned without a word and started back out of the room.

Nicole opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she realized she had no idea what to say. What could she say, really? The first time she had tried to ask Wynonna if everything was alright she had been met with anger. She knew that Wynonna would just deny it again. So instead of trying to talk about it Nicole just let the girl go. She didn’t feel good about it but what other choice did she have?

Then an idea came to her. She thought about it for a moment and as all the pieces fell into place inside her mind she slowly started to smile. She knew Wynonna would never ask for help. She knew that confronting her about it and offering help would be met with the same resistance. So she would do something that would help but do so in a way that, hopefully, wouldn’t make Wynonna push it away. She nodded to herself in agreement and grabbed her stick now so she could hurry out to practice. For the first time in her life she couldn’t wait for hockey to be over. She couldn’t believe she was thinking this but she actually had something more important to attend to than hockey.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Nicole had barely slept that night. Between her excitement for her date the next morning and what she wanted to do for Wynonna her brain would not calm down. It didn’t matter though because as soon as her alarm had gone off Saturday morning she was up and ready for the day. Her adrenaline had kicked in and she could not wait for all that was to come. She was going to spend the entire day with Waverly. That was what was taking over most of her thoughts that morning as she got ready. She couldn’t believe that Waverly had agreed to go with her. She was kind of grateful that Wynonna had gotten them suspended for the first game. If that hadn’t happened than this date wouldn’t have happened. It kind of seemed like fate.

Nicole had pulled up outside Jeremy’s house about a half hour early. It wasn’t her fault. She had gotten ready really quickly. Then the errand she had to run for Wynonna hadn’t taken as long as she had anticipated. After that there had been no line at the coffee shop around the corner. So now she sat outside the house in her car typing out a text to Waverly. She wanted to see if it was alright if she came to the door and met her parents since she had yet to do so.

She hadn’t gotten the chance to send the message, though. Suddenly Waverly was pulling the passenger side door open and sliding into the seat. She smiled across the car at Nicole as she shut the door and pulled her seatbelt on “You’re early.”

“So are you” Nicole looked a little surprised. She eyed Waverly carefully and after just a moment let out a laugh “Were you watching out the window for me?”

“Maybe” Waverly mumbled with a smirk. The truth was she had taken the earliest bus from her place to Jeremy’s house. She had then been waiting in the garage so she did not wake any of Jeremy’s family up. She knew it was all elaborate and that she had to tell Nicole where she really lived. She just needed to wait until the right moment.

“Well” Nicole smiled at the idea that Waverly had been so excited she had been watching for her to pull up. She gave a single nod then put her car in drive “I guess we should get going. Do you need me to like stop for breakfast or something?”

“I ate” Waverly said very softly. She was glad Nicole had not questioned her further. 

“I got coffee” Nicole motioned to her cup holders in the center of her car and gave a shrug. “I got pretty much every kind of sugar and sweetner they had because I wasn’t sure which one you could use. Plus they had like this non-dairy creamer thing that I grabbed too.” She glanced at Waverly almost shyly before looking back to the road. “It’s in the bag.”

“You’re so sweet” Waverly said with a happy sigh as she reached for the bag of mix ins for her coffee. It definitely blew her mind how thoughtful Nicole was. “Thank you, by the way. For the coffee. I ate but my coffee maker is busted and I didn’t have time to go pick any up.”

“Good thing I was up at sunrise then” Nicole stated with a little laugh. She glanced over once more and was glad to see that Waverly had found something to put in her coffee.

A silence filled the car now as Waverly mixed a few things into her drink and Nicole guided the car toward the highway. They knew they had a long ride ahead of them which would afford them plenty of time to talk so neither of them were too concerned with a bit of quiet. 

After a few minutes, and once Nicole’s GPS told her she would be on the same road for a long time, she glanced over and gave Waverly a smile. She cleared her throat then glanced back to the road “Are you excited to see anything in particular?”

“All of it” Waverly laughed out very softly over the top of her cup that she had been taking a sip from. “I honestly can’t believe you remembered I like History. This is pretty much my ideal date.”

“Really?” Nicole perked up slightly as a satisfied smirk came to her lips. She liked the sound of that. 

Waverly bit her lip shyly and looked over at Nicole. She could see how pleased Nicole seemed with herself and that made Waverly let out a soft breath of a laugh. Her head nodded “Yes. You somehow managed to top our first date.”

“So our first date was good too?” Nicole’s tone turned a little more genuine now. She was a confident person but she still doubted herself when it came to Waverly.

“Of course. Do you really think I would have agreed to a second date if I had hated the first?” Waverly chuckled lightly before taking another sip from her coffee.

“You could have just been so charmed by my awkwardness and attempt to piece together a decent date that you decided to give me another chance?” Nicole offered now with a laugh of her own. 

“I could have but that’s not why I said yes” Waverly shrugged a single shoulder as her eyes focused out of the window now. “You surprised me. It was a creative idea and I had a really good time.”

“I’m glad” Nicole said very softly as her smirk turned into a smile. Just hearing that Waverly had enjoyed herself made her heart flutter. All she wanted to do was make the girl smile. She glanced over again and gave a slight nod “I’m definitely looking forward to the fact that we have…” She motioned to her GPS and let out a soft laugh “...like almost three hours to get to know each other. I know we didn’t get to ask as many questions the other night as I would have liked.”

“Well” Waverly straightened up a bit in her seat as her smile grew. She turned to slightly face Nicole and gave her a nod “What would you like to know?”

“Everything” Nicole breathed out honestly. She gave her head a single shake and when she looked over this time there was a sincerity in her eyes. “I want to know everything you’re willing to share with me.”

The intensity and honesty coming from Nicole made Waverly’s stomach twist. The girl was making her feel things she had never felt before and she was having a hard time trying to process it all. She was also growing more and more weary over the fact that she had not been honest with her about who she really was. She bit her lip at the thought and gave a single nod “Wow. Well where do I start?”

“How about somewhere easy?” Nicole offered with a little shrug. “Why don’t you tell me about your family?”

Waverly’s entire body warmed as guilt washed over her. In a normal circumstance that question was a loaded one but in this case? It was like a plate of double loaded chili cheese fries without a fork or napkin in sight. She felt like there was no way to avoid the situation getting messy once she dove in.

Sensing a bit of hesitation from Waverly, Nicole decided to go first. She drew in a deep breath and shrugged as she started out softly “My parents are never around. It’s weird because they’ve been so unattached to me my entire life and I always just thought that was normal. Even when they were at home they didn’t spend a lot of time with me. They fed me, made sure I was clean, took me to hockey, and made sure I went to bed. It wasn’t until I turned thirteen and didn’t have a birthday party to celebrate that I started to realize it was weird. All of my friends wondered why I wasn’t having this huge event to like, you know, celebrate becoming a teenager and I was so confused by why it mattered.” She gave a single shake of her head as her eyes stayed focused straight ahead “They didn’t really care about anything but their business. I have always just kind of been this inconvenient situation that they got themselves into and now had to deal with.”

“That is terrible” Waverly’s breath was shaky as it came out. She had one hand over her heart as the other reached across the car to offer a comforting touch against Nicole’s arm. Her heart felt completely broken by what she had just heard. Nicole had somehow learned to be funny and compassionate and sweet despite having none of that in her own life from the two people that should have been nurturing her. Knowing that now made Waverly even more in awe of Nicole. She was incredibly special and she felt lucky to know her.

Nicole just shrugged it off when Waverly gave her sympathy. She realized now that, yeah, it was pretty shitty of her parents to be like that but she was also so used to it that it really didn’t bother her too much. “Now that they are always away for work it is…” She drew in a breath as she thought about what word she wanted. When something eloquent didn’t come to her she just released the breath in a long sigh “....relieving. Like now I don’t have to consider them, you know? I get to just live my life without caring if they care.”

“Don’t you get lonely?” Waverly’s voice was as soft as the gaze she held delicately on Nicole’s features. It was like she was seeing the girl in an entirely new light.

“I’m used to it” Nicole repeated as she finally looked over at Waverly. She offered her a flinch of a smile before returning her eyes to the road. “I had a lot of friends before I moved so I never really noticed. It wasn’t until I got to Purgatory and was the town pariah that I really started to feel alone.” Before Waverly could blurt another sorrowful condolence her way she quickly added “Until I met you.”

Waverly’s cheeks flushed red immediately. She bit her lip and gently pulled her hand away from Nicole’s arm now that it seemed she did not need the comfort. She gave her head a little shake as a smile lifted on her lips. “You always say the sweetest things to me.”

“I mean them” Nicole said without hesitation. She glanced back over quickly and when she saw Waverly was blushing her own smile grew. “Plus I like to see you blush.”

Waverly’s blush only grew at the mention of it. She let out a very soft laugh and tried to shake it away softly before her eyes lifted to focus back on Nicole. She drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment in an attempt to compose herself, then slowly let it out. “Just so you know you’re the only one who has ever made me blush like that.”

“So you’re saying I’m special?” Nicole smirked playfully and offered a soft wink.

Waverly nodded in agreement as her own delightment at the company she was keeping continued to grow. “Very special.”

Nicole’s eyes left the road for a moment. She glanced over long enough to take in Waverly fully. The way her smile held on her lips, the glint of amusement and joy in her eyes, and even how her long hair flowed freely down over the scarf she was wearing. The scarf that was actually Nicole’s but she had no intention of ever getting back. A dreamy smile came to her lips as she regarded Waverly’s beauty before she eventually looked back to where she was driving. She licked at her lips and after a moment broke her own silence “So what about your family?”

The smile that had been planted on Waverly’s lips faltered now. Her gut once more flinched with guilt and a wave of nervousness washed over her. They had just shared an incredibly sweet and genuine moment and she knew that she was about to ruin that. What if all the sweet, fun, light-hearted moments they had shared before now would all be ruined once she confessed to being related to Wynonna? What if Nicole was so upset she never wanted to see her again? Was it possible that the sweet moment they had just shared was the very last one?

She shook the thought from her head. She drew in a deep breath and once more held it to calm herself down. She knew she had to come clean. After a moment of building the courage she needed she released the breath she had pulled in and gave a nod. She could do this. “My mom left when I was ten because of my dad.” Maybe if she started with the tragic stuff first Nicole would feel too bad for her to be mad about Wynonna. “He’s an abusive drunk.”

Nicole blinked once in surprise at the bluntness of the statement. Her brows creased in concern and when she looked over it was obvious to see she had been caught off guard by what she had just heard. She gave her head a little shake then looked back at the road, only for a moment now, before her eyes started to flicker back and forth between driving and where Waverly sat “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, holy shit” Waverly mumbled through a deflating sigh. She gave her head a shake and shrugged just one shoulder quickly. “My older sister, Willa, left for college two years ago and she hasn’t been back. She hasn’t even called. We get a little money in the mail from her every now and then but she’s a full time student paying her way through school so it’s not a lot.”

“Wh-what?” Nicole nearly choked on her surprise as she breathed out the word. Once more her eyes flickered between the road and Waverly as her face twisted in horror. She couldn’t believe Waverly had been through that. She also couldn’t believe she was being so calm about it now. Then something clicked. She had heard the name Willa before. As realization of that moved over her she sat up a little straighter in her seat. She thought it over for a moment before finally forcing the words she was afraid to speak from her lips “I heard Wynonna talking about a Willa once….”

Guilt flooded every nerve ending in Waverly’s body now. She didn’t know that Nicole had ever heard Wynonna talk about their sister. Now she realized Nicole was quickly putting the pieces together. There was no turning back now. So she cleared her throat, which was suddenly completely parched, and nodded just once as the words stumbled from her mouth “Yeah. Wynonna’s my sister.”

“She’s your-” Nicole yelped out in surprise but caught herself from exploding completely. Her eyes went wide and she turned now to fully stared at Waverly in complete shock. She was floored. She had been completely blindsided. Maybe she had been dense to not connect it before but this was the last thing she would have ever guessed. Her eyes fluttered in a few blinks now as she was unable to look away from the girl next to her in the car.

“Nicole! The road!” Waverly gasped and reached out to grab hold of the steering wheel. The road was fairly straight and no one else was really on it at the moment but Nicole had veered slightly when she turned to look at her so she quickly corrected her path.

This seemed to tear Nicole’s eyes from Waverly and back to the road. She blinked a few more times to focus back on what she had been doing. She was still obviously stunned. She took a few seconds to bring herself back to center before she gave a nod and breathed out a long sigh. Her eye stayed on the road now and when she spoke it was devoid of any tone. It was like she couldn’t express the right amount of surprise so she had no expression as the words came out “Wynonna Earp is your sister?”

Waverly nodded and bit her lip. She watched the side of Nicole’s face and the way the girl had seemed to go into a mild state of shock. She reached out and gently put her hand against her arm “I know I should have told you sooner and I tried to, but-”

“She’s going to murder me” Emotions seemed to have come back to Nicole now and panic was the first one to move in. She blinked again and her head started to shake back and forth repeatedly “She’s going to dismantle my body with a skate and bury it in the middle of a field. It’s a small town and the Sheriff is her dad. She will get away with it.” A new wave of panic splashed into the pit of her stomach at the realization of her own words. She looked wide eyed at Waverly again “Your dad is the Sheriff?!”

“Uh huh” Waverly’s head bobbed in a single nod.

“Oh my god!” Nicole’s panic was now replaced with a sudden rush of awareness of the entire situation. Her mouth still hung open with surprise as she once more looked at Waverly “He’s beating her, isn’t he? That’s why she came to practice with a black eye and that’s why you two were seen coming out of the hotel this week.”

“Wait, what?” Now it was Waverly’s turn to be stunned. Her mouth opened too and the both of them held matching expressions of shock. She fluttered her eyelids a few times as she wrapped her head around what Nicole had just said to her. She then shook her head as if trying to settle the words into all the right places in her brain. She coughed out an almost offended sounded breath “Someone said they saw us coming out of the hotel?”

“Yesterday at practice” Nicole said quickly. When she looked over and saw the concern that had washed over Waverly she stammered to add more “But, hey, I overheard and I shut it down. Told them to mind their own business.”

“Why?” Waverly huffed out the question before she realized she had. She then shook her head at herself and tried again a little more gently “I just mean…” She shrugged and let out a heavy sigh “...you stuck up for Wynonna even though she’s never been nice to you?”

“I just…” Nicole’s posture softened a little now that she wasn’t rigid with shock. She drew in a deep breath and lifted her shoulders to her ears “I had a feeling something was off when I caught her arguing with her dad- your dad-” She shook her head as she corrected herself because she still couldn’t believe it “-and the way she snapped at me when I asked if everything was alright.” She let her shoulders drop now as she exhaled “And the look on her face when I came around the corner in the locker room when she had overheard me stopping the girls from talking about it…” She bit her lip and glanced almost shyly at Waverly now “...broke my heart.”

Waverly was overcome with a wave of tears all of the sudden. They had been fighting this, and hiding this, for so many years. No one believed that the great Sheriff of Purgatory could be such a horrible man. Everyone who suspected it just ignored it because when it was brought up people were all too quick to defend him. He had been on his best behavior when it had been investigated so that had to be it, right? No need to keep an eye on him.

But now that someone believed them? Even more so it was someone so kind and caring without any other reason to be so other than the fact that she was a decent human being? It was all too much. Hearing that Wynonna, the perceived strong one of the two, had shown even the smallest bit of hurt when the subject had been talked about was the last straw. Waverly broke. Her eyes closed and her hand covered her face as the sobs she had been fighting for so many years finally found freedom.

Nicole glanced over to Waverly when she didn’t get a response. She then did a quick double take to bring her eyes that she had turned back to the road back over to the girl. Her eyes went wide with surprise when she realized she was crying. “Shit” She mumbled to herself and straightened in her seat so she could check her mirrors. She then made sure it was clear and carefully pulled her car over to the side of the highway. Luckily it was still early morning and not many people were traveling out of Purgatory.

Once the car was in park she waited until the only semi-truck on the road passed her before she opened her door. She quickly rushed around the hood of the car to Waverly’s side. As soon as she opened the passenger door she knelt on the ground and put a hand on Waverly’s knee gently “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. Just let it out. I got you.”

Without hesitation Waverly turned and flung her arms around Nicole’s neck. She practically collapsed into her embrace and buried her face against her. Somehow the fact that someone who barely knew her was there to comfort her caused her to cry harder. She didn’t fight it now. She let everything that had been building and boiling come free. She had been carrying so much fear and anxiety with her that even if she tried to stop crying now she would not be able to.

Nicole didn’t mind. She just wrapped her arms tightly around the girl and held her. She gave a squeeze every now and then to remind Waverly that she was safe. She didn’t even attempt to speak. She just knelt at the side of the road with her arms securely around the girl who had taken her life and turned it upside down so unexpectedly. Right now it wasn’t about her, anyway. It was about Waverly. So she let her have her moment. She wouldn’t rush her. She would let her take all the time she needed.

A long time passed. Ten minutes, at least. Neither of them were keeping count, though, because it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Waverly. When she finally brought herself out of the embrace she felt a little shy. Her eyes dropped to her lap and she gently wiped a few tears off her cheeks. She wasn’t sure what to say. As the emotional burden she had been carrying dissipated through her sobs she now felt awkward. She had just unloaded on a near stranger.

Nicole could tell Waverly was feeling a bit weird about it all. The last thing she wanted to do was mention that. So she put a soft smile on her face and reached out to the glove box near Waverly’s knees. She pulled it open before reaching in to find the stash of tissues she had there. Once she had a handful she moved to offer them to the girl with a little nod “You’re lucky I have horrible allergies or you might have to go the entire day with snot on your face.”

It wasn’t the kindest or most comforting thing to say but in the moment it was perfect. It was light-hearted and goofy and it made Waverly forget for a split second that she had just dumped all of her emotional baggage on Nicole. It was exactly the break she needed and as she took the tissues she offered a grateful smile to the girl “I’m sorry about that.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for” Nicole sighed out the words. Her eyebrows were creased in concern as she took in Waverly’s delicate face. Her eyes were red, cheeks soaked with tears, and watching her blow her nose at that exact moment was not attractive. Yet she still felt her heart flutter in her chest because the girl she was staring at, the girl who had broken down and looked completely fragile just then, was still somehow the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Somehow, she thought, Waverly had gotten more beautiful to her even with a booger hanging out of her nose.

“You’ve got…” She reached out now and took one of the tissues that was sitting on Waverly’s lap. She motioned to her face and when Waverly gave her the okay she lifted the tissue to gently wipe away the snot that had been left behind when she blew her nose.

Realizing what Nicole had done caused Waverly to blush immediately. She quickly clapped a hand over her nose and looked almost horrified at the girl. “That was so gross!”

Nicole chuckled lightly as she crumbled the tissue in her hand then turned to stuff it in the side compartment in the door of the car. She looked back at Waverly and gave a casual shrug “Honestly I’ve seen grosser. Like, I mean, I play on a team of girls so you’d think we would be clean but that’s not true. Someone once left a huge turd and didn’t flush.” She smiled brightly now hoping to lighten the mood and lessen Waverly’s embarrassment.

Waverly couldn’t help but laugh at that. Nicole truly was an absolutely charming person. Here she was making sure she not only felt better but trying to make her laugh? She wasn’t sure how she had gotten the privilege of having this person come into her life. She was more grateful for it than she could say, though.

Seeing Waverly smile put Nicole at ease now. The last thing she wanted was to inadvertently make her sad. She knew what she was dealing with at home was tough and Nicole wanted to do whatever she could to try and take her mind off of it as much as possible. So after offering her hand out to take the used tissues from Waverly she stood up. She gave the girl a soft smile but held a still genuine concern on her face “Are you alright?”

“I will be” Waverly said with a slight nod. She let out a sigh and bit her lip almost nervously now as the question she had been wanting to ask came from her lips “Are you mad at me for not telling you about Wynonna sooner?”

“Not at all” Nicole could see how worried Waverly was and that nearly broke her in two. She quickly crouched down next to her again and reached out to take her hand. She caught her gaze and when their eyes met she offered a very gentle smile “I understand why you didn’t tell me. She is going to kill me.”

“She is going to kill you” Waverly had said the words at the exact same time as Nicole. When they realized they had done so they shared a smirk then started to laugh.

Nicole just nodded and gave Waverly’s hand one more squeeze before sighing out softly. “I promise I’m not mad, okay?”

Waverly’s smile was weak but it was grateful. She could tell that Nicole was being honest. She liked that. Nicole was so unabashedly herself and it was stirring to life a fondness for the girl that Waverly couldn’t quite put her finger on just yet.

“We can turn back if you’re not up for it” Nicole offered as she once more moved to stand. She motioned her hand toward the back of her car “We’re not that far from home.”

“No, absolutely not” Waverly’s head shook quickly. “I want to go.”

“Are you sure?” Nicole didn’t want the girl to feel obligated to continue with the date if she was not up to it. “We can go another day if you’re not feeling it.”

“Trust me” Waverly nodded firmly as she stared up at Nicole with sincerity in her eyes. “There is nothing I’d rather do more than spend the day with you.”

Nicole bit her lip to fight off the huge smile she felt wanting to take over her features. Her heart started to swell with a sensation she couldn’t quite describe. It was a mix of happiness, excitement, and that unknown feeling that coursed through her that caused butterflies to dance in her tummy when she thought about Waverly.

“Alright then. Let’s get this show on the road” She finally said as she clapped her hands together. She waited for Waverly to position herself back into the car fully before she shut her door and moved around to the driver side of the car. She slid in excitedly, buckled her seatbelt, checked her mirrors, then pulled back onto the highway. 

Silence settled into the car as they moved. Both girls were mulling over everything that had transpired. There had been a lot of information and a lot of emotion. They both needed time to process it as they drove. It wasn’t an awkward silence, though. It seemed as they both let everything whirl around in their head a new sense of comfort started to form between them. Something had changed. They had been brought closer. It was a nice feeling.

Then Waverly reached over out of nowhere and took hold of Nicole’s hand. It was a simple gesture of thanks but it held something more. It silently worked to fortify the new bond they had just formed. Nicole just smiled and turned her hand over in order to slide her fingers through Waverly’s. They sat like that, enjoying one another’s company in silence, as the road whirled by under the wheels of the car on the way to their new adventure.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	9. #9 - Gordie Howe

The rest of the day at the museum had been surprisingly pleasant. Not that Nicole had worried that it would be a good time but considering the conversation they had engaged in there was a chance that things could have been heavy. That had not been the case, though. The two of them seemed to have left that all behind in Purgatory and managed to have a truly amazing day. They laughed, they learned, and they talked about everything. By the end of the day Nicole felt like Waverly probably knew her better than anyone else ever had in her life. Not that she had ever really been super close to someone before. But this was different. She felt completely at ease opening up to Waverly. She had never felt like that before.

On the drive back to Purgatory Waverly had fallen asleep. Nicole didn’t mind. The day had been long and she could only imagine the toll that all the emotions had taken on the girl. So she let her rest while she drove them back home with music playing softly through the speakers. Every now and then she glanced over to make sure Waverly was still sleeping. If a song got too loud she would turn it down. By the time they were pulling back into Purgatory there was barely any volume at all.

Waverly had given Nicole her address, her real address, when they had started back home. So Nicole silently followed the GPS until it told her she had pulled up to the Earp home. She looked up to see an old house with mostly darkened windows set off from the road. There was a wooden fence type barrier that surrounded the property with a huge sign above the arched opening that simply read ‘Earp’.

Nicole didn’t pull into the drive. Instead she parked just outside the fence and put her car into park. She then reached over and gave Waverly a gentle nudge “Hey, Waverly, wake up.”

Waverly groaned and used her hand to push the nudging away from her. She let out a yawn and as her eyes started to flutter open she realized she was not in bed. Then she remembered that she had been on a date with Nicole and she quickly sat up. She looked across the car with wide eyes and bit her lip softly “I fell asleep. You must think I am an awful date.”

Nicole just let out a soft laugh and shook her head gently “It was a long drive after a long day. I don’t blame you. I probably would have dozed off too if I wasn’t the one driving.”

“It’s still really rude” Waverly frowned and gave her head a shake. “I am so-”

“You apologize too much” Nicole interrupted with another gentle laugh. “You’re only human, Waverly. Stop being sorry for that.”

Waverly bit her lip and looked away from Nicole. She had no idea how the girl was so understanding about everything. She was still in high school yet she spoke with a comprehension far beyond that. It made her wonder if perhaps Nicole had been through more than she had let on. That was a question for another day because Nicole had already gotten out of the car and was moving to her side to pull her door open for her.

“I didn’t wanna pull in the driveway because..” Nicole motioned behind her once she had Waverly’s door open and shrugged. “Well I can see Wynonna is home and I’m not sure what you told her about today so….” She shrugged and offered Waverly a crooked smile “...better safe than sorry I guess.”

“Smart” Waverly said with a nod. She moved to gather her bag of goodies she had gotten from the museum gift shop before she finally stood up out of the car. She offered Nicole a smile once she was on her feet and gave a slight nod of her head. “Thank you for today. I can’t even remember the last time I had so much fun.”

“That’s because you’re a huge nerd” Nicole said with a teasing nudge of her arm against Waverly’s shoulder. 

“Proudly” Waverly admitted with a laugh. “But I meant the whole day, not just the museum” She motioned weakly at the car and shrugged as her eyes dropped to her feet. “Everything you did for me today was really sweet.”

“It was a pleasure” Nicole said softly. She then bit her lip and motioned to the car as well “I mean, you know, all that is not cool and I didn’t enjoy learning what you’re going through but…” She cleared her throat because she suddenly felt awkward. She had no idea how to discuss the situation or even if she should. So she just cleared her throat and mumbled “I’m just glad to help.”

“You do” Waverly assured her as her hand reached out to gently touch Nicole’s arm. When her touch brought Nicole’s gaze to her own she offered her a very sincere smile “You have helped. So thank you.”

“Sure” Nicole said with a firm nod. A smile slowly moved over Nicole’s lips and the longer that her gaze lingered on Waverly’s the more the smile grew. She once more felt her stomach flinch and curl with the sensation of butterflies floating around inside. She bit her lip almost shyly now and before she did something stupid she cleared her throat again and motioned now to the house behind her “Um, I won’t keep you any longer. It’s already pretty late.”

Waverly perked an eyebrow slightly at Nicole’s sudden urge to send her away. It was a little weird. Then again, Nicole got a little weird when she was nervous so maybe that was it. She was right, it was pretty late, and it had been a long day. She was sure Nicole was exhausted. So she gave the girl another soft smile and took a few steps in the direction of the Homestead “Again, thank you so much.”

“It was my-” Nicole started to wave but stopped herself. Her eyes got wide and her wave turned into a pointed finger that she turned to Waverly “Wait!” She now held up both hands in a gesture to indicate she wanted the girl to freeze. “Hold on” She nodded and when it looked like Waverly had stopped she quickly moved back around the car. She opened the back door and reached in to find her backpack. She dug through it for a moment and after she found what she was looking for she smiled and slammed the door shut. 

She hurried over to Waverly and held out the envelope that she had just fetched from her bag “Uh, this is for you. Well, I mean, it was for Wynonna originally, because I didn’t know she was your sister, but I guess I can give it to you. Actually, it might be better to give it to you because I hadn’t quite figured out how to give it to her without it being obvious it was me and-”

“What is it?” Waverly took the envelope and cut off Nicole’s nervous ramblings. She eyed it for a moment then looked up at Nicole curiously.

“Oh, it’s…” Nicole let out a huff of a breath and reached her hand behind her head. She pulled nervously at the short hairs that poked out of the bottom of her beanie and gave a slight shrug. “It’s for the hotel downtown. The nice one” She added quickly and gave a shrug “Not the one that smells like old people and tar. The other one.”

Waverly’s confused look grew and as her eyes shifted from the envelope to Nicole and back again her head started to shake slightly “I don’t get it.”

“After I heard those girls talking about Wynonna coming out of the hotel I wanted to help but I knew she wouldn’t accept my help” Nicole motioned to the envelope now and gave a shy looking shrug. “It’s a voucher for an open tab under her name. I figured she could use it on the days where it gets really bad at home. Uh…” She stopped rambling now and cleared her throat. Her eyes lifted to look at Waverly timidly as if she were worried about how she would react.

Waverly’s eyelids fluttered in surprise as she realized what Nicole had done. She shook her head and looked back to the envelope now delicately, as if what she held were a precious treasure that she was afraid to damage. She stared at it for a few long seconds before finally lifting her gaze back to Nicole. When she did there was a new depth of gratitude for the girl shining in her eyes “This is too much.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine” Nicole waved off Waverly’s worry and gave a single shoulder shrug. “If my parents see the charges they will probably assume I threw a team party or something. I’ve done that before, so, like…” She stopped herself again and offered another shy smile. “It’s cool.”

“Oh, Nicole” Waverly breathed the words out because she was speechless. No one had ever been so generous. No one had ever even attempted to help like this. Well, there was the one time Nedley had inquired about their father but even that complaint had remained anonymous and gone nowhere. This was too much. Nicole had no reason to be this kind and yet she was. And to top it all off she had done that for Wynonna before she had known Waverly was her sister.

“Oh, hey” Nicole bit her lip with worry as she saw Waverly starting to tear up again. She hoped she had not crossed a line. She moved closer to her and reached down to gently touch at her cheek “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just trying to be nice.”

“It’s perfect” Waverly cried out softly as her head nodded against Nicole’s touch. She sniffled deeply and tried to fight off her tears that were building as she looked into the kind eyes of the most genuinely nice person she had ever met. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t” Nicole said very quickly and shook her head. Her hand dropped away from Waverly’s cheek and once more reached back to play with the short strands of hair at the back of her own head. “Just use it, okay? That will be thanks enough. Just knowing you guys are safe is all I care about.” She bit her lip and her hand dropped away from her head now. She let out a sigh and tried to laugh lightly “I would have offered her to come stay at my place but I had a feeling she would be way too stubborn to do that so…” She motioned now to the envelope and shrugged. 

“She would rather die than accept help” Waverly agreed with a little nod. She looked down at the envelope again and a heavy sigh came from her lips. Her head shook once and she looked back up at Nicole again “Are you sure?”

“Totally” Nicole said lightly as a smile moved over her features.

“What if we have to stay a lot? Like what if the tab gets really big?” Waverly chewed her lip now as her eyes dropped away from Nicole. She didn’t want to admit it but their situation was growing worse and she was worried there would come a time that going home would be far too dangerous.

“It’s okay” Nicole repeated again. She doubted her parents would notice but she didn’t care if they did. If that’s what was needed for the Earp girls to be safe she would deal with the consequences. After a moment she shrugged slightly and gave a crooked smile “If you’re worried about it you can always come and stay at my place, too. I have a spare bedroom and a kitchen and, you know, tv and stuff.” She bit her lip nervously again because she hoped Waverly didn’t think she was trying to be creepy. “Bring Wynonna, too, if you want. I can sleep on the couch so you two can have the beds. I really don’t mind.”

“Nicole, you really don’t have-”

“As long as you’re safe” Nicole cut of Waverly trying to push away her help again. She gave a single nod at her words “Both of you.”

Waverly bit her lip to fight off more tears. She took a single step and once more wrapped her arms around Nicole. She gave her a tight hug hoping that she somehow felt just how grateful Waverly was for this amazing gesture. She honesty wasn’t sure she would ever be able to express it in words.

“Oh” Nicole was a little surprised by the sudden hug but she didn’t fight it. She just smiled and returned it just as tightly. Her hand rubbed gently at Waverly’s back and her eyes closed as she soaked in the feeling of having the girl in her arms. No matter what happened between them she truly hoped that Waverly, and Wynonna, got out of their terrible situation and were able to live happy lives.

Waverly pulled out of the hug and looked up at Nicole. She gave her a smile and before Nicole could say anything she lifted onto her toes and gently pressed her lips against her mouth. It was soft, short, and sweet. A delicate gesture of gratitude. At least that’s what Waverly would tell herself. As she pulled back she also stepped back and offered Nicole a shy smile now “I really should go now.”

Nicole, completely surprised and mesmerized by the kiss, just gave a slight nod of her head. Her eyes fluttered a few times and she stared at Waverly with a dopey little half smile on her lips. She watched Waverly take a few more steps backwards before she was finally able to control her hand enough to lift it in a slight wave. 

Waverly bit her lip to hide a smile now as she walked backwards up the driveway of the Homestead. When Nicole waved she lifted her hand to return the gesture. The way that Nicole was looking at her at the moment made her heart flutter in her chest. There was something so endearing about how Nicole wore her emotions on her sleeve. She liked that she could tell exactly what Nicole was thinking the majority of the time. Right now she could tell that kiss had been a welcome surprise. It was a nice change. Usually it was Nicole who was surprising Waverly.

She let out a happy sigh to herself as she finally turned her back on Nicole to head toward her house. With all the bad that she had to deal with in her life she still somehow felt like it was going to be okay. Nicole had come out of nowhere and, without knowing it, become her knight in shining armor. She couldn’t really describe what that meant to her. The more she thought about it the more her heart danced in her chest. That was the feeling, she told herself, of total gratitude toward the girl. Maybe there was more behind it but that was too much to deal with right now so immense gratitude is what she would stick with.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Hey, Earp” Nicole said with a slight smile as she walked passed Wynonna on her way to her own locker. It was the day of their second preseason game and Nicole was in an incredible mood. She was finally going to be able to play hockey again. There was a huge difference between practicing and playing. There was no other feeling in the world that quite matched stepping onto the ice for a game and Nicole’s entire body was surging with that excitement.

Wynonna, who had been tying up her skate, looked up in confusion when she heard her name. She blinked once and followed Nicole’s movements to her locker as if trying to figure out if the girl had really just greeted her so casually. They weren’t exactly friends. So for Nicole to just walk into the locker room and say hello like they were buddies had been weird. She perked an eyebrow at the girl and watched her for a moment. When nothing more came from Nicole, she let out a soft huff of a laugh “Uh, hey?”

Nicole glanced over at Wynonna when she spoke. She offered her a soft smile then looked back to what she was doing “Are you excited to finally get to play? It sucked not being able to be here on Saturday for our first game.”

“Uh…” Wynonna’s confusion was growing. They had agreed to be civil to one another but so far that consisted of not being dicks and staying out of each other’s way. Nowhere in that agreement had polite small talk been discussed. So Nicole suddenly chatting like it was something they did all the time was completely unexpected. 

Nicole glanced over at Wynonna again. She could see the confusion on the girl’s face and she let out a soft laugh. She leaned down to dig something out of the huge bag of equipment she had brought with her. She found what she was looking for and once she was upright again she moved down the aisle to where Wynonna sat. She offered her a smile as her hand extended to her. In her hand was a bottle. It was very obviously a sports drink. Nicole motioned to it to indicate she was trying to give it to Wynonna “Here. I drink one before every game and it really helps keep my energy up.”

“What are you doing?” Wynonna looked from the bottle to Nicole and back again. It was obvious that she was growing more confused by the second.

“Oh, so, okay I am a pretty superstitious person when it comes to my pre-game stuff. At my old school I used to share one of these with my Alternate” Nicole frowned a little now. She kind of missed being the captain of her old team. But she knew her place and she accepted that. “Since I am now the Alternate and you are my Captain, I thought…” She shrugged and offered the bottle once more in Wynonna’s direction. When she saw the hesitation in Wynonna’s face she let out a soft sigh. “You know what? Nevermind. I am on a new team and I should find a new pre-game ritual. So…” She set the bottle down near Wynonna and shrugged before turning her back and moving toward her locker again.

Wynonna was just completely stunned. She had no idea where this random kindness had come from. Sure she had definitely stepped in and shut their teammates up from gossiping about Wynonna’s dad but they hadn’t talked about that. In fact they really hadn’t talked at all since that moment. So for Nicole to all of the sudden start being friendly was just bizarre. 

Nicole let out a soft sigh. It was going to be hard not being nice to Wynonna now that she knew everything that was going on. Not that being nice was hard. It was being nice only to be met with resistance by Wynonna that was hard. She knew Wynonna didn’t trust her and she wished she could tell her that she knew everything. But Waverly wanted to tell her sister that the two of them had been spending time together. So now she had to wait. She had to wait until Wynonna found out. She was dreading that day because, honestly, she was sure Wynonna would hate her even more. She hoped not. But maybe, in the meantime, if she was nice to her and treated her like any other teammate Wynonna would be able to get over it and not totally hate her guts once she found out.

Wynonna blinked once as her eyes shifted from Nicole to the drink and back again. She perked an eyebrow and reached out to take the bottle into her hand. She turned it over a few times to read some of the ingredients. It was a legitimate drink and not something that Nicole had given her as a prank or anything. This was even more curious. She looked back up to Nicole and her eyes narrowed slightly. She wondered what was going on with her. Why had Nicole suddenly decided they were going to act friendly toward one another? Game day or not that did not erase their history and the bad blood between them. Wynonna could not help but wonder what Nicole’s endgame was.

Nicole kept silent as she dressed in all of her pads and her game day uniform. She then sat down to re-tape her stick where it needed it. She was very obviously running through a routine she had gone through countless times before. Her movements were meticulous but effortless. She was in a zone. It barely looked like she was blinking as she moved down the checklist in her head of all the things she always did before every game. Always the same order for every task. A disrupted routine could really throw her off her game and with this being the first one she was playing with a new team she really wanted to be sharp.

Wynonna had finished dressing and sat at the end of the bench watching Nicole. After ten minutes of seeing the girl doing little things that helped her mentally prepare for the game she had seen enough. Nicole was way too anal. It was just a game! So she scooped up the bottle and made her way over to Nicole. She plopped down next to her on the bench and not-so-politely spoke without even announcing her presence “Alright, fine, you wanna do this or what?”

Nicole had jumped at the sudden appearance of Wynonna. She drew in a sharp breath and put a hand on her heart. She slowly looked over at the girl with surprise still painted on her features. Her head shook and she let out the breath she had drawn in “What? I am kind of in the middle of something here.”

“All that mumbo jumbo voodoo shit?” Wynonna motioned vaguely at Nicole’s stick and skates before letting out a huff of a laugh. “Dude, I never put the same skate on first or tie my laces four times or whatever else you weirdos do and I play just fine.”

“Good for you” Nicole said with an annoyed roll of her eyes. “Some of us prepare differently.”

“Well it’s weird. But, hey” Wynonna lifted the bottle she held now and perked an eyebrow slightly. “I will totally drink this with you if it will make you feel like your hands won’t fall off on the ice or whatever.”

“My hands won’t fall off?” Nicole perked an eyebrow and let out a very soft laugh. “It’s not like OCD where if I don’t do it all I think something bad will happen. It’s just to get in the right state of mind.”

“Stop talking” Wynonna lifted her hand toward Nicole to shush her. “I honestly don’t care. But..” She nodded and motioned to the drink she held again. When she looked back at Nicole there was the slightest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips for just a split second. In that split second her eyes also held a light that kind of looked like she was looking forward to sharing a moment with another human being that was genuine. Almost like, for only a fraction of a tiny second, Wynonna kind of liked the idea of acting friendly.

Nicole caught it. She saw the subtle hint on Wynonna’s face and she knew instantly that this was her attempt at accepting Nicole as someone other than an enemy. She wouldn’t say friend. That was way too intimate. This was something vaguely resembling two teenagers sharing a single moment in time where neither of them hated one another and actually had the same goal. This was teammates coming together in flash of bonding. It was momentary and it was fleeting but for now it was more than either of them could have guessed would happen at the beginning of all of this.

So Nicole quickly reached into her still open bag at her feet and fished out her own drink. She then turned and gave Wynonna a nod to show her that she was ready. The two of them took that moment to both remove their lids. Then Nicole shrugged and looked at Wynonna with skepticism in her eyes “Should we like cheers or something?”

“No” Wynonna said firmly before tilting the bottle to her lips. She took a few long drinks from it before pulling it back and looking at the bottle again. Her lip curled up in disgust and after a second she wiped at her mouth “Holy shit, Haught. What the Hell?”

Nicole let out a laugh as she wiped at her own mouth after having taken a sip. She nodded at her own bottle and shrugged “It doesn’t always taste the best. The blueberry ones are pretty good but I couldn’t find those so I thought I’d try this one.” She breathed out another light laugh and glanced at Wynonna “But it’s all natural so it’s pretty much pure energy.”

“It taste like pure asshole” Wynonna grumbled. She put the cap back on her drink and gave her head a shake. She stood up and moved back down to her own locker where she tossed the bottle and gathered up her gloves, helmet, and stick. She then turned and glanced back to Nicole. Again there was a very subtle hint of a smile that flickered and then died on her lips. She shut her locker then motioned behind her toward the ice “Hurry your ass up. We’ve got a game to win.”

Nicole couldn’t help the small smile that came to her lips as Wynonna walked off. It was small, miniscule to anyone else, but for the two of them it was huge. A moment of peace. They had shared something for just the two of them. Wynonna had complained and Nicole had over explained and it was over as fast as it had began but that didn’t matter. What mattered is they had shared it. That opened the door to the possibility that maybe there might be the chance of a friendship between them some day down the line. Maybe. Maybe was all Nicole Haught needed.

~.~.~.~.~.

The horn sounded to indicate the end of the second period of play. The teams both left their benches and moved to their locker rooms for a break before the last period would start. As soon as Wynonna had made it into the locker room she let out a loud growl and threw her helmet against the wall before whirling around with fire in her eyes “We are getting embarrassed out there!”

“They are pinching us down the boards! We can’t get a clean pass” Someone on the team yelled back.

“I was open” Nicole motioned to herself then thrust the stick she still held out in the direction of Wynonna. “Dude I know you heard me tapping my stick-” As she said that she tapped her stick on the ground to demonstrate what she had done “-that means I’m open!”

“I couldn’t see you!” Wynonna huffed out and threw her hands to the side. “They’re all over me as soon as I touch the puck!”

“That’s bullshit” Nicole pointed with her stick again. “I saw your eyes. You looked right at me and decided to hold onto the puck!”

“Girls” Nedley came into the locker room now and held his hands up to indicate everyone needed to stop yelling. He looked around at all the girls and his head gave a shake. He turned his eyes to Wynonna, since she was the Captain of the team, and let out a sigh. He took a moment to silently scold her for her team’s performance before his eyes moved back to the center of the room and he spoke again. “We aren’t moving our feet. We can’t get a clean pass because we are holding onto it too long. Our possession time is shit. We need to break that blueline.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes and sat down with a huff. She hated that she was always blamed when they did shitty. Sure she was the Captain and she was supposed to lead the team on the ice but it wasn’t her fault they had all forgotten how to play today.

“I was open” Nicole said again, softer now because she was talking to her coach, as she shrugged her shoulders.

“You have been a lot of the night” Nedley said in agreement. “But it does us no good to have wide open ice if we are holding the puck too long.”

“Our D isn’t helping” Wynonna motioned to Nicole, who was their best defender, and shrugged. “They’re letting them waltz right into their end of the ice untouched.”

“Because they are stealing it from you and breaking away!” Nicole huffed out defensively. “Even the pros are gonna get gassed if they are constantly having to chase a rush like that.”

“Girls” Nedley raised his hands again to stop an argument from breaking out. “The good news is we are only down two goals.” He glanced around the room and gave a little nod. He moved over to the huge white board that hung on the wall and picked up a marker. He once more looked at all of the girls that were looking at him for answers before he turned back around and gave a single nod “Okay, here’s what we are going to do.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.

The third period had been a lot better for the team. They had listened to Nedley’s coaching and they had managed to change their game up in the right way and had started producing scoring chances. One goal had gone in off a deflection in a play that was kind of an accident. One of their girls had shot the puck right into the other team’s defender but it had rolled up her body and over her head only to drop down on top of another girl’s stick which caused it to change directions just enough to get by the goalie.

The second goal was a beautiful one. Wynonna had used her pure hockey talent to maneuver around three defenders, scoop around the back of the goal, and come around the other side. She flicked her wrists at the exact right time and the puck lifted just enough to pop over the goalies skate and in. It was one of the reasons Wynonna was considered a top college prospect. Skills like that simply could not be taught. It was a thing of beauty.

They were in the last minute of the game now and it was still tied up. They had been pinned in their own defensive end for over a minute. The other team was holding strong and firing the puck toward the net as often as they could. They were desperate to get any goal they could so they did not have to go into overtime. Nicole was exhausted. It had been a long shift and her line had not had a chance to swap off the ice because of the fact they were stuck playing defense for so long. She felt her legs starting to wobble. She had been moving side to side across the ice as she chased the puck in hopes of knocking it out of their possession so they could get a rest.

Then somehow her stick connected with the puck and she saw it slide behind the other team and out passed the blueline. This meant they could clear it and get fresh legs on the ice. She was so relieved. They had stopped them from scoring and now, hopefully, their teammates could come on the ice and score before the end of the game. She quickly chased the puck down to make sure it was cleared before she could turn and skate toward the bench.

Then out of the corner of her eyes she saw Wynonna somehow racing full speed at the puck. She could see she was going to get there ahead of everyone. She could tell Wynonna was going to scoop the puck up and break away from everyone else to take on the goalie by herself. She was going to try and win it.

Nicole’s heart jumped into her chest and instead of skating to the bench for a change she decided to follow Wynonna and the puck. She used all the strength she had left and skated toward their end of the ice in an act of support. If Wynonna’s shot was blocked and there was a rebound then Nicole could possibly be there to put it in. She also acted as a safety net in case the defense caught up with Wynonna and she needed to pass it. But that wouldn’t happen. Wynonna had four steps on everyone else and showed no signs of slowing down.

So Nicole followed and she watched as Wynonna drew closer and closer to the goalie. This was it. She was about to shoot and potentially end the game. Her own heart was racing. This is what she loved about hockey. The game could be changed in a matter of seconds. There was no thrill quite like it in the world.

Then suddenly there was a spray of ice as Wynonna skidded to a stop. She had not shot the puck at all. Instead, for some reason, she put on the brakes and stopped her forward momentum. Then, for a reason she couldn’t explain, her eyes flickered back and she saw Nicole following the play. In that split second their eyes met and Wynonna flicked her wrists in that direction, sending the puck in a scorching pass toward Nicole.

Nicole was surprised by the pass. She had thought Wynonna was going to take the shot herself. But the surprise faded like lightening and was replaced by instinct. As the puck came toward her she lifted her stick in the air, planted her front foot, and with all her might swung her stick forward.

There was a thunderous crack as Nicole’s stick connected with the puck. Her eyes followed the small black dot as it soared through the air. Somehow it managed to miss the two defensemen that had been coming back for the other team to stop Wynonna. Then there was a flash from the goalie’s glove as it reached up and tried to snatch the puck out of the air.

Instead the light behind the goalie lit up. The puck curled into the back of the net. The buzzer above the ice sounded. The crowd went crazy. Nicole had just won the game with no time left on the clock.

Her eyes went wide and she threw her hands into the air. She turned to look for Wynonna who was already rushing at her. Soon she was surrounded by her entire team who had cleared the bench when the goal had gone in. She had arms around her and random hands tapping her head. She heard all difference voices from different sources congratulating her. She honestly wasn’t sure who was saying what because her body was numb. She was being held up by her teammates all hugging her where she stood. She felt like she was floating.

After the team finally settled down and they moved to high five the other team at center ice, as a gesture of sportsmanship, they then all hurried over to the bench area and into the locker room. Nicole was still getting nudged and high fived from her teammates as she made her way down the corridor. She was all smiles. This was the most amazing feeling in the world. This is why she played hockey. She didn’t care that it was only a preseason game that really didn’t matter. She still felt amazing. More importantly she felt like a member of the team. Finally.

“Nice shot” Wynonna came up to Nicole now with a real, genuine smile on her face. She gave her a single nod “I’m gonna call you Haught shot from now on.”

“Nice pass, dude” Nicole said with a laugh. She couldn’t even be annoyed at the stupid name Wynonna had just used on her. She was too happy to care. Her head shook and as her smile held she gave Wynonna a nudge “I thought you were going to shoot it.”

Wynonna just shrugged it off. She pulled her gloves off her hands now and gave Nicole a very soft but sincere half smile “You were open.”

Nicole’s smile only grew. Somehow, in some way, Wynonna had decided to take it to heart when they had agreed to be teammates. She knew that she probably would have taken the shot herself if she had been on a breakaway like Wynonna had been. But for some reason Wynonna had passed it back and it had worked out. Maybe Wynonna had seen something Nicole hadn’t in the moment. Maybe it was that raw hockey talent she had that made her able to read the game and dissect a play in an instant. Whatever it was made Nicole respect Wynonna all the more. She had been annoyed, at first, with how cocky Wynonna acted on the ice. But now she got it. She had witnessed first hand the knowledge of the game that Wynonna held. There was no doubt she deserved all the praise she had received throughout her career.

There was a brief shared smile and nothing more between the girls. They parted ways and worked to change out of their sweaty uniforms and into normal clothes. Nicole hated showering in the locker room because she was pretty sure the floors hadn’t been cleaned since the 80’s so she just pulled on some workout clothes and covered them with her coat. She would just shower when she got home.

She was just finishing zipping up the last of her equipment in her bag when she heard her name again. Most of the girls had all left already. It was a school night and a lot of them still had homework. So when she heard her name she wondered who was still sticking around. When she looked up she saw Wynonna standing near the door of the locker room looking her over. 

“You almost done?” Wynonna asked softly and motioned behind her. “Coach doesn’t like us walking out into the parking lot alone after the games. Since you’re the last one here I thought I’d wait for you.”

“Yeah” Nicole smiled again as she lifted her bag over her shoulder now. “Thanks, that’s really cool of you.”

Wynonna just shrugged it off. She waited until Nicole met up with her at the door before she turned now and stared down the hallway that would lead them outside.

“You played awesome tonight” Nicole said gently as the two of them walked slowly together. It was obvious Wynonna was in no hurry to get home and Nicole knew why. She was sure every night was a gamble. They never knew what they would be stepping into.

Wynonna shrugged again but this time looked at Nicole with a smile “All people will remember is that wicked slapshot you made to win the game.”

Nicole let out a soft laugh and her head shook slightly “Are you crazy? When you scored that goal by just…” She reached out and mimicked holding a stick as she flicked her hands up. “...Dude my jaw dropped. You have great hands.”

“Are you hitting on me?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow slightly. “Because I’ve heard rumors that you were like that.”

“What?” Nicole’s heart dropped to her toes. She froze on the spot and stared at Wynonna in horror. She had heard rumors? What rumors had she heard?

Wynonna glanced back and realized that Nicole had stopped walking. She let out a laugh as a smirk came over her features “Dude I was just messing with you. You should see your face, though.” She motioned for Nicole to catch up then started walking again. “I don’t care if you’re gay.”

“Oh” Nicole’s mind was catching up and she realized it had all been a joke. It was Wynonna’s way of small talk. Nicole let out a sigh of relief at that and a laugh came with it. She nodded her head slightly at that and gave a smile “Ah, okay, picking on the new girl. I get it.”

“Wow slow on the uptake. You’ve taken a few good hits to the head haven’t you?” Wynonna chuckled as she pushed the door to the outside open now. They were immediately met with bone chilling cold. Not only had their bodies been warm from the game still but the sun had gone down and left the night air frigid. 

“Shit” Nicole mumbled and watched the word float into the air in a cloud of her breath.

“Yeah, no kidding” Wynonna nodded as her own breath lifted from her mouth.

“Just so you know” Nicole said after a moment as the two of them moved across the parking lot toward their cars. “I am gay but I wasn’t hitting on you.”

“Oh so I’m not your type?” Wynonna gasped playfully. She then gave Nicole a smirk to show she was again teasing her. 

“Oh, no, I mean…” Nicole felt nervous all of the sudden. If she said no would Wynonna start being mean again? If she said yes would she think she had a crush on her and get weirded out? This was a very fine line that she did not know how to walk. So she just shrugged and let out a puff of hot air “I-I think yo-you are-”

“Don’t answer that because I don’t really care” Wynonna let out another huffed laugh. She perked an eyebrow now at Nicole then shook her head “Damn I’ve never seen you so nervous before.”

Nicole let out a heavy sigh and shrugged. She was so nervous about how to handle Wynonna now. Their kind of sort of maybe friendship was barely starting to even think about growing and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin that by saying something dumb. Plus she was still completely terrified about how Wynonna would react once Waverly told her they had been on a few dates.

“So you got a girlfriend?” Wynonna decided to move on since Nicole seemed to be having a mental crisis at the moment.

“Oh, um…” Nicole shook her head and let out a sigh. “I mean not really. I have been on a few dates with someone, though.”

“Huh” Wynonna sounded surprised and glanced Nicole up and down slowly as if she were trying to decide if she was telling the truth. After a moment she shrugged and gave a nod “Cool. Who is it?”

“Oh, pfft, I don’t think she wants anyone to know yet, so” Nicole huffed and tried to act casual. This was a very dangerous conversation they were venturing into.

“Oh come on you can tell me. I bet I won’t be surprised” Wynonna said with a laugh now. “It’s a small town. No one here has secrets.”

Nicole just gave a shake of her head. She glanced at Wynonna and as panic filled her she tried to deflect by quickly stammering “You probably don’t know about her.”

“I know about everyone” Wynonna said with another soft laugh. “Come on, who is it? Can I guess?” Before Nicole could say no Wynonna waved her off “Okay, let’s see. I bet you it’s-”

“Waverly!” Nicole paused in her tracks in surprise. Standing next to Wynonna’s truck was the girl.

“Hi” Waverly gave a little wave to both of the girls. She let her eyes linger on Nicole for a moment before she turned and looked at her sister. She put on a happy smile and bounced over to her now. “You played awesome, Wynonna.”

“Oh you stayed to watch?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow as she tossed her heavy hockey bag into the back of her truck now.

“Of course” Waverly huffed the words as if that should have been a given. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you usually hang out with Jeremy in the library while I play” Wynonna said with a shrug as she pulled her keys out of the pocket of her coat. 

“Well” Waverly stiffened where she stood and tried to look casual. Her eyes fluttered a bit and she breathed out a short sigh “I am personally invested this season.”

Wynonna paused what she was doing and looked her sister over slowly. She was trying to figure out what she was up to. When nothing came to her she let out a puff of a laugh “Why?”

“My article?” Waverly deflated now and looked almost hurt that Wynonna had forgotten. She motioned at Nicole and then at her sister and shrugged “Did you forget about that?”

“Yeah” Wynonna said plainly. She then looked at Nicole who was still standing nearby and gave a shrug “Yeah I kind of forgot you two have met.”

“A few times” Nicole said quickly. “But I didn’t know she was your sister until very recently.”

“How did you not know? Earp isn’t exactly a common name” Wynonna mumbled as she moved around her truck now to unlock the doors.

“Well she didn’t tell me her last name” Nicole said softly and glanced at Waverly. Her eyes got wide as if to silently say she was freaking out at the moment.

Waverly shook her head and put a hand up in a gesture to calm Nicole down. She then turned and looked at Wynonna “Anyway, you two played great. Now can we go home? It’s freezing.”

Wynonna motioned to the door Waverly stood at as if to indicate she wasn’t stopping her from getting in. She then looked up at saw Nicole still standing there looking a little surprised. She perked an eyebrow at that but shrugged it off and offered a wave “See ya tomorrow, Haught.”

Nicole quickly lifted her hand to return the wave from Wynonna. She then looked at Waverly who had climbed into the truck. She perked an eyebrow at her curiously before shrugging her shoulders almost as if she were waiting for her to tell Wynonna right then and there that they had been hanging out.

Waverly quickly shook her head. She lifted a finger to her mouth to remind Nicole not to say anything. She then offered a soft smile and moved her hand to the side of her face. She held her pinky out on one end and her thumb at the other, making the shape of a phone, before holding it to her ear. She then winked at Nicole and closed the truck door.

Nicole couldn’t help but smile now. This situation was not ideal but it seemed like Waverly had it under control. She trusted that she would tell Wynonna at the right moment and that it would be done in a way that wouldn’t totally piss her off. She hoped, at least. The last thing she wanted was to lose the very fragile sense of peaceful cohabitation that Wynonna and herself found themselves in at the moment.

~.~.~.~.~.


	10. #10 - Ron Francis

Nicole rounded the corner of the hallway between two of her classes and immediately felt her heart jump into her throat. The sensation was quickly replaced by a smile and a flutter in her stomach as her eyes settled on Waverly. It was growing harder to ignore just what type of affect the girl had on her. She wondered if Waverly felt even the smallest bit similar. She sure hoped so.

As she approached the girl in the hallway she watched as she bent down to stuff her backpack, which was sitting at her feet, full of books. A smirk came to her face now. She slowed her steps so she would not be heard and made her way up behind Waverly as quietly as she could. When she was within reach she quickly moved her hands around Waverly’s face to cover her eyes from behind. “Guess wh-WOAH!”

Waverly had reacted in a split second. Her hand reached up and she gripped tightly against one of Nicole’s wrists. She then used the angle that Nicole had come down at to her advantage. With a quick pull against the arm and an upward push of her feet she got up under Nicole just enough to flip her over her head and bring her down with a loud thud against the tiled hallway in front of her. As soon as she did so her eyes went wide when she realized who had been behind her. “Oh my god, Nicole! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s cool” Nicole groaned out in a labored breath that told she was obviously in pain. She had landed straight on her back and all of the air in her lungs had been knocked out of her. She rolled to her side and used one elbow to slightly prop herself up as the other arm reached around to rub at her back. She looked up at Waverly with a grimace that she attempted to turn into a smile “So now I know not to sneak up on you.”

Waverly knelt beside Nicole and put her hand gently on her shoulder. Her head shook as her face held a slight frown “I guess I never mentioned I took martial arts classes when I was little?”

“No, I think I would have remembered that” Nicole let out a labored laugh as she brought herself to sitting completely upright now. “Luckily I managed not to land on my head so that’s a plus.”

Waverly bit her lip as her hand moved now to rub gently down Nicole’s back. She felt really bad. The girl was just trying to be goofy and she had overreacted slightly. “Here, let me help you up.” She said with a heavy sigh now as she got to her feet. She held her hands down for Nicole and offered her a crooked look that was a mix of a frown and a smile.

“I knew today was going too well” Nicole said with a laugh as she reached up and took Waverly’s hands in her own. She grunted as she pulled herself up to her feet. Once she was standing she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her head shook and she looked back to Waverly with an almost shy look now “Too many people were being nice to me. My ego was getting out of control. Thanks for taking me down a peg.”

“I am so sorry” Waverly pouted now as she helped brush off the back of Nicole’s shirt that had collected dust from the disgusting high school hallway floor.

“It’s totally cool” Nicole said with a genuine nod as she smoothed out her shirt and focused on Waverly now. “Really, it’s actually pretty funny. I mean I am pretty sure only about 80% of the school saw it so I still have a good chance of being friends with the other 20%.”

Waverly stifled a laugh and shook her head as she reached down to gather her backpack off the ground now. “Oh please. I haven’t stopped hearing your name all day today. Seems your game winning goal is the talk of the town.”

“I know. It’s kind of cool” Nicole admitted with a soft laugh. She waited for Waverly to shut her locker then motioned for the girl to go ahead down the hallway. “Anyway before you totally Kung Fu’ed my ass I was coming over to see how last night went.”

“Last night?” Waverly perked an eyebrow slightly and glanced over at the girl as they walked. “What about last night?”

“After the game?” Nicole asked with a single shoulder shrug. “When you were getting into the truck it kind of seemed like you said you were going to talk to Wynonna about us.”

“What?” Waverly laughed out the word and gave her head a few quick shakes. “No I didn’t.”

“You did the whole…” Nicole paused and started to mimic what Waverly had done the night before. The look to calm her down. The motion to remind her not to say anything. The way she had smiled softly and made her hand into a phone as if to say she would call her afterwards. She then huffed and dropped her hands out of the air and shrugged “I thought for sure you were telling me you’d call me after you told her. Then you didn’t and I-”

The bell rang above their heads. They both looked up at the sound quickly before Waverly shook her head and returned her eyes to Nicole. She let out a sigh and her face was more serious now “I didn’t wanna ruin her mood. She was so happy. Then we got home and daddy wasn’t there so we had the entire night to ourselves without any drama. I couldn’t ruin that.”

Nicole let out a heavy sigh and gave her head a single nod. She ran her hand slowly back through the short, wavy strands of her red hair that fell loose yet somehow still kempt around her head. “Okay, I get it. I know it’s hard, especially with everything going on at home.” She gave Waverly a sad looking shrug now “I’m not gonna push you. But she needs to find out soon, Waverly. This is turning into a sticky situation. She’s being nice to me now, kind of, and I am having a hard time acting casual around her because I’m afraid I’ll slip up and say something about us.”

“I know” Waverly put a hand up in a gesture of surrender to show she would not argue. She nodded just once. “I’ll tell her as soon as I can. But Wynonna doesn’t do well with bad news so it has to be the perfect time.”

Nicole just nodded once. She motioned behind her now as she started to back away “I gotta head to class. Just keep me posted, okay?”

“Nicole, I’m-” But Nicole had already turned to leave. Waverly let out a deflating sigh as she turned and walked into the classroom that she had been standing next to. Nicole was right. It was getting tricky and if Wynonna found out from anyone but her that would make it exponentially worse. So she would tell her tonight. She had to. It was fair to everyone involved. She was really starting to like Nicole, a lot, and having to hide that wasn’t fair. She deserved more. Nicole deserved more. Wynonna deserved the truth. So she would suck it up and tell Wynonna that night. It was decided. Once Waverly Earp set her mind to something she always followed through.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Waverly checked the clock on her phone and immediately let out a soft “Shit.” She stood up from where she had been sitting at Jeremy’s dining room table and started to gather her things. “Shit, Jeremy, I was supposed to be home an hour ago!”

“Hey, it’s okay” Jeremy said with a calming tone as he shut the book he had been taking notes out of. “I can take you right now. It’ll be fine.”

“No, Jeremy, you don’t understand…” Waverly huffed out as she stuffed folders and notebooks into her backpack sloppily. That was not like her at all. It showed just how much of a hurry she was in. “I was supposed to ride home with Wynonna so I could tell her about Nicole.”

“Oh” Jeremy’s mouth held in the shape of an O for a moment before his eyes went wide. He gave a quick nod and turned away from her “I will go get my keys and meet you in the car.”

Waverly huffed again as she looked around the table to make sure she had gotten everything. Once she had decided she had what was important, knowing Jeremy would bring her anything she had forgotten tomorrow, she hurried out of the house and quickly climbed into the car that Jeremy had already started up. Before she could even get her seatbelt buckled Jeremy was steering the car down the street.

“So how do you think she is going to take it?” Jeremy asked calmly in an attempt to break the tension he could feel radiating from his friend.

“She’s going to be pissed no matter what” Waverly grumbled as she looked at her phone again. She noticed a text from Nicole now and she opened it to read it. She let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes now “I don’t know what I am going to do. I’m terrified it’s going to put a wedge between us and she’s already so stressed about this season. She knows how important it is to focus. But things at home are getting worse so I know she’s on pins and needles every night after practice until we get home and know if he’s there or not. And now…” She looked at her phone again and lifted it in a kind of shrug with her hand “Nicole is being so patient and she wants to do the right thing by making sure Wynonna knows sooner rather than later.” Her head shook and she glanced over at her friend now with a shrug “How did I get into this mess?”

“By being an overachiever who wanted to publish a stunning article in our lousy school paper” Jeremy mumbled as an amused smirk came to his lips.

Waverly deflated as air passed through her lips causing them to sputter and vibrate softly. Her head gave another shake as she stared at her phone “I wanted to write an article that would help Wynonna get attention, you know? Like no one has ever really interviewed her outside of, you know, post-game stuff at the Junior Worlds. I wanted a piece to showcase who she is as a person, that she has a story outside of hockey, and I thought it would be a cool spin adding in the fact that she now had to be teammates with her on-ice enemy.”

“And then you met Nicole and are now twitterpatted” Jeremy teased in a sing song voice.

Waverly rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the smile. She glanced at him and shrugged just slightly “I had no idea she would be so charming. You know the last thing I wanted was to date anyone in high school ever again after what happened with Champ.”

There was a collective groan from both Jeremy and Waverly at the mention of her ex. He had essentially used her name to get out of trouble whenever he caused shenanigans around town. Which was a lot. He also used her to do his homework and made her feel sorry for him because he had a learning disability. In reality he was just lazy. He never really cared about her. After that she had promised she would get through high school without dating anyone else. She had much better things to focus on anyway. Plus, if Wynonna succeeded in getting a scholarship she would be leaving Purgatory behind so the last thing she wanted to do was have to go through a break up.

Then Nicole had come out of nowhere and swept her off her feet. It was unexpected in more ways than she could count. She had not been looking. This girl was supposed to be this horrible person who had made her sister’s hockey life a living Hell. Plus she had never been interested in girls before. Not that she could remember anyway. Regardless, it seemed to be kizmet. She was enthralled by her the moment they had met. She had never experienced anything like that before and she was helpless to fight against it. So she had given in and, for once, let herself just go with the flow.

Now she was stuck. She was terrified of losing her sister. Wynonna was a hot head and was known to hold a grudge. The way she treated Nicole when she first got to the team was a perfect example of that. The last thing that Waverly wanted was to make Wynonna so upset that she left her behind when she left for college. Not that she really thought that would happen but fear was a pretty irrational thing. She was just scared her entire dynamic with her sister would change.

“She’s your sister” Jeremy could tell Waverly was mulling her worries over and over again in her mind. He reached out and put a hand on Waverly’s knee to pull her out of her own thoughts. “She might get upset but at the end of the day she loves you. I know it’ll be okay.”

“I’m dating the enemy” Waverly puffed out and rolled her eyes. “That stuff is serious business to an athlete.”

“So you’re dating?” Jeremy perked up a bit as a smile rose on his lips. “Like, officially?”

Waverly blushed and gave her head a quick shake. She glanced at him then looked away and out the window so he wouldn’t see the smile on her lips “No. I just meant we had been on dates and will probably go on dates again. That is what I meant.”

“Oh rats” Jeremy slumped over a bit and let out a sad sounding sigh. “I thought you two had made it official.”

“Shut up” Waverly said with a soft laugh. Just then the car pulled into the drive at the Homestead. When Waverly saw her sister’s truck she felt her stomach do a flip. She was home so there was no avoiding it. She also noticed her dad’s police cruiser was parked there as well. She perked an eyebrow and her smile had faded. She hoped she was not walking into something terrible.

“Thank you for the ride” She finally said to Jeremy as she gathered her backpack from the floor then climbed out of the car. She glanced back in and let out a sigh “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck!” Jeremy chirped happily. “Keep me updated!”

Waverly shook her head as she shut the door. A soft smile came to her lips. Jeremy was so supportive of her. She was so happy to have him as a friend. She didn’t know how she would get through any of this without his advice and unbiased opinion on it all. He was wise beyond his years.

She approached the house slowly with her ears perked up to see if she could hear any disturbance. When she didn’t immediately hear anything that made it obvious that a fight was going on inside she visibly exhaled. She moved through the front door slowly and looked around. She was not greeted by her father drunkenly watching tv on the couch. She did not see Wynonna anywhere either. So she took a few steps in and after another moment she heard a clatter come from the kitchen. Her eyes went wide and she dropped her backpack to the floor before she moved swiftly toward the direction of the sound.

As she came around the corner into the kitchen she was greeted by a sight she was not sure she had ever seen before. Her father and her sister were chatting softly, both with smiles on their faces, as they worked over something on the counter. She perked an eyebrow and softly cleared her throat to announce her presence.

“There you are!” Wynonna said with a bright smile as she saw Waverly standing in the kitchen now. “Wash your hands. Daddy is teaching me how to make pizza.”

“I used to work at the pizza shop in town as a kid” Ward said with a nod now as he motioned to some of the ingredients he had laid out on the table. “Thought I would pass on my skills in case either of you girls needed a summer job.”

Waverly looked completely stunned. She stared in shock at the two people in front of her. She did not recognize either of them. She could not recall the last time they had ever gotten along for longer than five minutes without shouting at each other. To say she was blown away by what she was seeing was an understatement. She honestly didn’t think she was awake because this had to be some sort of weird dream.

“Come on” Wynonna had come over to Waverly now. She gave her a soft smile and motioned with her head back to where she had just come from. “Let’s put together some pizzas so we can eat.”

“What the Hell is going on?” Waverly mumbled very gently so her father would not hear.

“I have no fucking clue” Wynonna said back just as softly and just as seriously. “But he came home and he didn’t wanna punch my face in so, I thought, why not?” She motioned behind her again to everything laid out and shrugged. “Let’s just get this over with so we can go to bed and wake up pretending this weird ass day never happened.” Before Waverly could argue Wynonna had grabbed her hand and was turning back to their father with a smile “She said she would be on cheese duty!”

“I don’t eat cheese” Waverly breathed out the words but no one heard them. She was kind of stunned into submission at the moment. She hadn’t wrapped her head around any of this so she was just being pulled into it without much of a fight.

“Alright, so, this is how you throw the perfect pie” Ward said with a clap of his hands before gathering up a ball of the dough he had rolled out. He then proceeded to very excitedly show the girls how to pull and toss the dough until it came out flat and round. He then slid it onto the table and motioned to it proudly. “Best crust you’ll ever have is the one you tossed yourself!”

The girls looked at each other then put on a fake smile. They nodded in agreement then Wynonna reached for the sauce. She looked at her dad then the dough and shrugged “So now we just put shit on it?”

“What have I told you about language like that, Wynonna?” Ward’s smile faded instantly.

“Sorry. I meant put stuff on it” Wynonna said softly.

“A lady should not speak like that” Ward’s words came out in a hiss now. “It’s that damn hockey that’s corrupting you. Those girls are bad influences.”

“Daddy, trust me, the girls on the team are great influences” Waverly said with a little nod. She wanted to say that Wynonna was definitely the worst influence of them all but she did not want to piss him off more.

“Besides, you are the one that signed me up for hockey when I was four” Wynonna huffed out now with a little shrug. “So if anything it’s your fault I don’t speak like a lady.”

“What did you say?” Somehow Ward’s tone got heavier and his eyes darkened with anger.

“She didn’t mean it” Waverly said quickly. “She was just kidding.” 

“No I wasn’t” Wynonna said with a soft scoff. “Let’s not pretend you’re so perfect anyway, dad. Most of the swear words I know I heard from you first.” She hadn’t meant to piss him off but she also wasn’t going to be insulted about the type of person she was. All things considered she was an upstanding teenager that most parents would dream of having. She got great grades. She was committed to a sport, a hard sport, and had been for most of her life. She continually got praised for her leadership abilities. She loved her sister more than herself. So she was not going to stand there and let her father tell her that she was a bad person because she liked to swear.

“How dare you talk to me like that” Ward growled. Just like that it was obvious whatever weird happy mood their father had been in was long gone. He used both of his hands to scoop under the side of the table and with one motion flipped it on it’s side. This caused all of the toppings and the dough to fall on the floor. He motioned to the mess with a sharp flick of his hand and snarled out the words “Clean this shit up. Now.”

“No” Wynonna stopped Waverly in her motion to bend over and start cleaning up. She stood upright. She puffed out her chest as much as she could. She narrowed her eyes on her father and with a firm tone she nodded once “You made the mess you clean it up.”

“I will not be disobeyed in my own home!” Ward lunged at the girls now. Wynonna quickly used her arm around Waverly to shove her to the side and out of harm’s way. Then she ducked under the approaching arms and stepped to the side. She watched the man stumble forward into the cabinets. 

As he regained his balance Wynonna stepped between Waverly and her father, using her body to shield her sister “Dude you made the mess. Don’t get pissed because we aren’t going to be your slaves any longer. I’m sick of putting up with your bullshit.”

“Wynonna, I-”

“No” Wynonna glanced behind her at Waverly with a firm shake of her head. “No we don’t have to put up with this, babygirl. It’s time we stand up for ourselves.”

With her head turned talking to Waverly she did not see her father’s hand coming at her. Suddenly she was knocked off balance by a severe blow to the right side of her face. She stumbled to the side and fell to her knees from the force of the backhand from her father. She cupped her hand over the spot immediately but turned to look at the man who had hit her. She saw him stepping toward Waverly now and before she could think she was back on her feet. With two steps she had drawn close enough to wrap her arms around him by the waist. She used the momentum she had gained from pushing off the ground to lift him off his feet. She then guided her shoulder down into his gut and drove his entire body down on top of the overturned table.

Waverly screamed and quickly rushed over to the two fallen bodies in the middle of the kitchen. She knelt beside her sister who had bounced off her father and was now laying near him on her back. She looked her over quickly and reached for her face “Wynonna, are you okay?”

“Peachy” Wynonna grumbled as she rolled to her side. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees now and her eyes lifted to their father. She could see he had not been knocked out so she quickly pushed at Waverly now “Go. Get some shit and go to the truck. Now!”

Waverly didn’t hesitate. She turned now and ran from the room. She knew Wynonna would stall for as long as she could so she could gather some things for them.

“Get out” Ward growled as he brushed away the various pizza toppings that were stuck to his shirt and face. He looked up at Wynonna with rage seething behind his eyes. He sat up and started to climb to his feet. “You are no longer welcome in my home.”

Wynonna huffed out a laugh that was more dry and irritated than amused and gave her head a shake “Trust me, dickwad, I have no intention of ever coming back here again.”

The man finally got to his feet but he was obviously unstable where he stood. Wynonna wasn’t sure if it was the take down or if he had been drunk and just not showing signs. Either way he did not look like he could give chase at the moment which was good. He tried to focus on her and when he managed to do so he scowled “If I ever see you back here I’ll make sure you never play hockey again.”

“So you’re threatening my life after I kicked your ass? Mature” Wynonna scoffed now as a smirk came to her lips. She couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated about the fact that she had rattled the man enough that he felt threatened to be around her.

He lunged at her again. It was weak and Wynonna barely had to move out of the way. He stumbled forward, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face with a loud thud. Wynonna took the chance now to turn and run out of the room. She moved to the door and grabbed her keys and her backpack, which she had dropped by the door, before calling out “Waverly? Come on let’s get out of here!”

“Out here!” Waverly called from just outside the front door where she was loading a few things into the back of the truck.

Wynonna nodded and pushed the door open. She paused and looked back into the house. She looked around and after a moment she walked back into the kitchen. She could see her father had rolled to his back but he still looked dazed. She waited for him to realize she was standing there before she lifted her hand, holding just her middle finger up in his direction, and giving him a smirk. She then turned and hurried out of the house to the truck.

Neither of them said anything as they loaded what they had into the back of the truck and climbed inside. Wynonna started the truck quickly and soon they were on their way down the road with the Homestead fading in the mirrors behind them. Wynonna’s eyes stayed locked behind her for the first few minutes. She wanted to make sure he hadn’t jumped in his police car and followed them.

Once it seemed like they were in the clear she let out a sigh and looked over to Waverly. Her head shook and she suddenly felt disappointed in herself. She should have never believed that their father was actually being nice to them. She reached out now and put a hand on her sister’s leg “I should have known he was a ticking time bomb. I’m sorry I put you in danger.”

“It wasn’t your fault” Waverly said softly as her hand reached down to take a hold of Wynonna’s. She shook her head as her eyes focused now on her sister “How could you have known? Besides if you would have said no to making pizza he probably would have been just as pissed and hit you before I got home. Then what?”

Wynonna just shook her head. Her eyes focused on the road as her fingers gripped tightly to Waverly’s hand. She was quiet for a moment as she thought about it all. She had no idea what would have happened if Waverly had not been there. For some reason their father was not as mean when Waverly was around. She was sure if not for Waverly she would have been beaten to death already.

After a moment her eyes glanced to her sister and she shrugged “I think I have enough for some food tonight. We might need to sleep in the truck, though. The last stay at the hotel tapped us out.”

Waverly shook her head and let go of Wynonna’s hand. She then reached into her backpack that was sitting at her feet and dug around for a few moments. Once she found the envelope that Nicole had given her she pulled it out. She looked at her sister for just a split second then let out a heavy sigh as she brought the envelope into view “We can go to a hotel.”

“What?” Wynonna glanced at her sister in confusion. She then perked an eyebrow when she saw the plain envelope she held. She looked it over a moment then gave a confused shake of her head “What is that?”

“An anonymous donor” Waverly said gently. She was not sure how Wynonna would take the news. She hated asking for help and hated even more when it was offered without her asking. But they had their back against the wall right now. So she cleared her throat and opened the envelope “I found it in my locker. Someone slipped it in there between classes the other day. It’s for the nice hotel downtown.”

Wynonna’s eyes turned from the road to look at the envelope. She eyed it carefully for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed and her head shook as she looked back to the road “I don’t trust it.”

“Why not?” Waverly scoffed as she eyed the envelope now too.

“It’s fishy! You all the sudden have, what, a free night stay at the hotel?” Wynonna motioned to what Waverly held and huffed. “Like where did that come from? There has to be a catch. Like you have to work for their secret sex ring or something in order to stay in the room.”

“There’s no catch” Waverly mumbled with a frown moving over her lips. “It’s in your name. I guess they didn’t know how to get it to you or if you would accept it if it did get to you. And it’s not just a night…” She sighed and looked at her sister now. “Wynonna, this is an open tab. That means we can stay there as long as we need.”

“Bullshit” Wynonna shook her head quickly at that. “No way, babygirl. No one gives that type of shit away for free. Did you read the fine print?”

“There’s no fine print! The tab is open in your name. We just have to check in and let them now to put it on your tab” Waverly motioned to the envelope as if that was printed clearly on it. She then shrugged and gave her head a shake “Why are you fighting this? Someone just wanted to do something nice!”

“Who?” Wynonna was starting to sound defensive now. “Waverly, it’s weird. This all the sudden shows up? Like, why?” She huffed as she pulled up to a red light now that they had made it into town. She turned to look at her sister with a serious scowl on her face “Where did it come from?”

“Anonymous donor” Waverly repeated. She did not want to lie and say she didn’t know. She had already lied to her sister enough.

“Yeah, you said that” Wynonna mumbled and took off from the light once it turned green. “It’s fishy, Waverly. Why would someone do this for us?”

“They wanted to help?” Waverly offered up the suggestion that she knew was completely true.

“Help?” Wynonna snorted and rolled her eyes. She was quiet for a moment before she glanced at her sister and let out a sigh. “Help with what? No one knows what’s going on.”

“Everyone knows, Wynonna” Waverly said with a tremble in her voice now. She could not continue to pretend that what was happening was all okay. It wasn’t.

“Then why hasn’t anyone helped us before!” Wynonna yelled the words louder than she had meant to. As she did so she ended up choking on the last of the words. She felt all of her anger and hurt from what they had experienced starting to boil up. She was so good at hiding what she was feeling. She used the anger on the ice to help her play better and hit harder. It was a healthy outlet. But now? It was too much and knowing someone who she didn’t know was out there willing to help was the last straw for her. She couldn’t hold back any longer.

“It’s okay” Waverly said softly as she scooted across the truck so she was next to her sister. She gently put a hand on her back and rubbed up and down lightly. “I know, Wynonna. I know.”

“It’s not fucking fair” Wynonna wailed out as tears started to run down her face. She blinked quickly so she could focus on where she was going. Luckily Purgatory was small and she was already at the hotel. She pulled into the parking lot and as soon as she found a spot she pulled the truck to a stop. She turned now and looked at her sister with pain shining in the dim light of the streetlamp above the truck. She wiped at her eyes and her head shook again “Why us? We were good kids, remember? I mean we started a few fires…” She sniffled and shrugged at her own words as she wiped her eyes again “Okay, I started a few fires. But that’s normal kid stuff. I’ve never done anything bad enough to deserve this.” At the last of her words her voice broke and she felt herself giving into the sobs that had been waiting to escape her heart for so long.

“I know” Waverly repeated as she pulled her sister against her now. She let Wynonna’s head come to rest on her shoulder before her own eyes closed and she held her tightly. She felt her own tears now spilling out. She couldn’t handle the fact that Wynonna, the beacon of strength in all of this, was now breaking down in front of her. It was all too much. They had been through emotional and physical Hell and the toll it was taking was no longer hiding. Waverly had known that her sister was hurting but seeing it all come out now was overwhelming. So she held her sister and the two of them cried together for longer than either of them cared to know.

For the first time ever Waverly got to be the strong one. She gladly took that burden from Wynonna. She had never asked to be protected. Wynonna just did so without a second of hesitation. She would never be able to truly express how grateful she was that her sister had always stepped in and taken the beatings. So now she would hold her sister and be there for her in a way she had never been allowed to before. She would show her that she didn’t always have to be strong. She could share the weight of the world with Waverly. Hopefully from this day onward Wynonna would willingly share the burden because Waverly was more than ready to take it off her hands.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Hey” Nicole said softly to Waverly as she approached her in the hallway. It was becoming a normal occurrence at this time of day for the two of them to run into each other. Mostly because Nicole had rerouted herself between two classes to be able to see Waverly. She was almost always late to the next class but she didn’t care. 

Waverly looked up when she heard the girl’s greeting. She offered a weak smile but not much more. It was easy to see she was exhausted. She was not her usual bubbly self and her eyes had bags under them from the lack of sleep. “Nicole, I really-”

“I heard” Nicole said gently as her hand reached out to lay against Waverly’s shoulder. “I heard a few of the hockey boys talking about Wynonna this morning. Said she had a fresh black eye.” She bit her lip and her hand dropped away from Waverly now. 

“Shit” Waverly sighed and closed her eyes. She hated that people were gossiping about Wynonna now. That was only going to make it worse.

“I stopped them” Nicole said quickly when she saw Waverly’s body slump at the news. “Told them it was from a pick up game that she and I were playing. I said I got a little overzealous and threw an elbow even though we didn’t have any gear on.” She shrugged slightly and offered a flicker of a half smile. “Figured that would be better than people starting rumors.”

Waverly nodded and turned now toward Nicole. She wrapped her arms around her in a sudden hug. She pulled herself into Nicole tightly and buried her face against her shoulder. She drew in a deep breath to stop herself from crying. Nicole was such a nice person and she could easily walk away from all of this but instead she was now doing whatever it took to protect them from it. She did not know if she could ever truly repay the girl. 

When she pulled out of the hug she offered the girl a shy smile “Thank you. For that and for everything else. We are at the hotel now but hopefully we won’t stay long.”

“Stay as long as you need” Nicole was blushing slightly from the sudden hug but she tried to act casual and wave it off. She offered Waverly a smile before nodding “Just keep me updated so I know how mad to expect my parents to be once they get the bill.”

Waverly frowned immediately. Her head shook and she let out a sigh “Nicole I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

“Hey, woah, it was a joke” Nicole said quickly as her hands came out to gently rest against Waverly’s shoulders. She dipped her head just enough to catch Waverly’s gaze and when their eyes met her smile softened. “Don’t worry about the money. I promise it’s fine.” She would probably get in trouble but at this point she did not care. Her parents were great at writing pretty much everything off as a business expense anyway.

“Okay” Waverly gave in because she did not have strength to argue. She closed her locker now and lazily slid her backpack over her shoulders before heading down the hallway now.

Nicole frowned. She did not like seeing Waverly so down. She knew the girl couldn’t possibly be happy all the time, that was crazy, but seeing her sad just hurt. She would do anything to put a smile back on her face. She just didn’t know what to do. So she walked next to her quietly as they moved toward their next classes.

Waverly paused outside the door to her next class. She looked at the door and her shoulders slumped as she gave a tired sigh. Her head shook and after a second she looked back at Nicole with a crooked, half-hearted attempt at a smile “I don’t really feel like school today. Do you want to get out of here?”

This surprised Nicole and that was evident by the look on her face. She stared at Waverly in shock for only a few seconds before shaking herself out of it. Her face lit with a smile and she quickly gave a few excited nods “Hell yeah. Let’s ditch this place.”

Waverly appreciate the enthusiasm. She gave a genuine smile and reached out to loop her arm through Nicole’s. They walked side by side now down the hallway as the bell rang and everyone else hurried to their classes. She had never ditched before but she knew that she needed some time away from it all. She needed to go somewhere away from all the places that she knew. She needed to be in a place where she did not have to pretend to be happy. She needed an escape.

“Where do you want to go?” Nicole asked after a few moments as they headed out of the doors and toward her car.

“Anywhere” Waverly said with a shake of her head. “Somewhere where no one knows who I am.” She glanced up at Nicole and her face was once more painted with weariness.

Nicole gave a little nod of her head. She didn’t really know a lot of places in Purgatory but she had an idea. She would take Waverly to her favorite place. The place she went when she just wanted to think about life. It wasn’t fancy but it had a nice view at least. 

Neither of them spoke again. They just got into Nicole’s car and enjoyed the silence that filled the cabin as the vehicle bumped along down the road. There wasn’t much more that needed to be said. Waverly didn’t want to face the world today and Nicole would do whatever it took to make that possible. In the moment that was all that mattered to either of them.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

“It’s beautiful” Waverly whispered in awe as she looked out of the huge picturesque window that reached floor to ceiling. They were in an empty building that was littered with construction equipment. There were plastic sheets hung in various places to protect the new structures from dust and other chemicals coming from the dismantling in adjacent rooms. There were paint buckets and tools just laying around. It was obvious they were probably not supposed to be in the building but Waverly didn’t care.

Outside the window was a view of the nearby mountains. At the base of the mountains was the lake, surrounded by trees, shimmering in the sunlight. It was a serene landscape, something you’d see in a photograph or painting, and it was absolutely perfect. Waverly turned away from the window and gave Nicole the first real smile she could muster all day “I had no idea you could see the lake from this building.”

“Well you couldn’t at first” Nicole admitted with a little shrug. She stepped up next to Waverly and put her hand on her back. She then pointed across her body to a lot that was now empty that was slightly behind the building where they stood. “There used to be apartments there. They were all worn down and blocking the view of the lake so my parents tore them down.”

“What about the people living there?” Waverly turned her head now to look at Nicole with concern.

“They were a hazard and no one was inhabiting the building. They checked” Nicole said with a quick nod. “They weren’t safe to be in. But they did go through and make sure there were no homeless people squatting or anything first. If there was they would have provided them lodging.”

“Really?” Waverly perked an eyebrow now. She realized she had never asked what Nicole’s parents did for a living.

Nicole nodded and looked out over the view again. She let out a sigh and shook her head slightly “They specialize in rebuilding residential areas so they are up to date on building codes and all that stuff. If there are squatters in the buildings they offer them jobs working on the renovation of the building and provide them with lodging for the duration of the construction. Then they offer them discounted rent rates before they open the rentals to the public.”

“Wait, what?” Waverly looked completely shocked now. She stepped back from Nicole and held her hand out as if keeping her at a distance. She stared wide eyed, looking Nicole over head to toe slowly, as if she could not believe what she had said was true. Then after a moment she let out a soft breath of a laugh and dropped her hand “Nicole that is incredible.”

“Yeah’’ Nicole said with a slight nod. She knew what her parents did was awesome. They were warriors for the underprivileged. They provided jobs and homes and they were hailed as saints all around Western Canada. She wouldn’t deny that it was amazing. But she also could not deny the fact that her parents had made a ton of money doing this and that made her feel kind of gross about it. She also hated that her parents cared more about homeless people than their own daughter.

She shook the thought off and motioned to the view they were looking at “They aren’t going to build in that lot next door, though. They want to keep it empty so the people who live in this building can see the lake.” She shrugged and looked back at Waverly now “So I think they are just going to, I don’t know, make it a park or something.”

“A park?” Waverly perked up at the idea. “Nicole that is awesome! Purgatory doesn’t have enough parks and the ones we do have are all covered in poop or beer cans because people here are pigs.”

Nicole just shrugged again. She was sure Waverly was right but she honestly didn’t care. Her parents’ work was a sore spot for her. They were never around. They just threw money at anything that came up as a problem. They once forgot her birthday and tried to buy her off with whatever she wanted. She had only been ten so of course she had accepted but looking back on it now it makes her sick. All she really wants are real parents.

She cleared her throat and glanced down to Waverly again. “I’ve never told anyone this before. I mean…” She motioned around the empty loft they stood in and shrugged. “I don’t like people to know.”

“Why not?” Waverly looked completely dumbfounded by that. “They sound amazing. You should be proud!”

Nicole just shook her head. She sighed out heavily and turned her back toward the window now. She rubbed at the back of her head, pulling at the short strands of hair there, and just shrugged her shoulders “Because everyone always thinks it’s so amazing and they always ask if I am going to join them once I’m old enough. You know, carry on the family business and all that?” She dropped her hand out of her hair now and let it fall to her side with a slap against her leg. Her tone was growing a little more distressed as she spoke “But I don’t want that life. I just want things to be simple, you know? Play hockey, maybe go to college, find a job I really believe in, get a cat….” Her shoulders slumped as she let out a deflating sigh. She turned to look at Waverly now with a frown on her lips “I feel so selfish admitting that but it’s true.”

“I don’t think it’s selfish to want your own life” Waverly’s face curled in concern as she moved closer to Nicole. She reached out almost timidly to offer a comforting touch to her arm. She wasn’t sure how Nicole would receive the touch. She had never had to comfort her before. Luckily she did not pull out of her hand and Waverly nodded at that. “You just told me you want to be normal and there is nothing wrong with that. I think living a peaceful life sounds too good to be true.” She shrugged and let out a sigh now “I’d do anything to be normal.”

“You’re anything but normal, Waverly” Nicole said lightly but with a serious look in her eyes. Her hand lifted now and she gently brushed her fingers against Waverly’s cheek. “You’re the most incredible person I have ever met.”

“No, I’m not” Waverly mumbled softly.

“You are” Nicole said firmly as she stepped closer to her. “You’re so smart and funny and kind. You’ve gone through so much in your life and yet you’re able to smile every day and bring happiness to people around you. You have this light about you that just…” She drew in a deep breath and smiled as she exhaled it slowly and focused on Waverly again “...fills me with joy. I’ve never known anyone like you.”

Waverly bit her lip and looked away from the intense gaze that Nicole held. She gave her head a shake to try and push away the soft blush that had risen in her cheeks. The way Nicole talked to her sent a wave of heat coursing through her entire body. It wasn’t an anger or a hurt. It was a heat resulting from an emotion she had yet to pin down. It was good, though. That much she knew.

“Hey” Nicole reached out now and took hold of Waverly’s chin. She gently pulled the girl’s eyes back to her own. When their gazes met she offered a tender smile as her fingers brushed now away from her chin and up along her cheek once more. Her head gave a single and as she spoke it came out in a whisper “I think I’m falling for you.”

Waverly felt her lip tremble and her breath hitch in her throat. The rest of her went numb. She stared at Nicole completely shocked. She could have never guessed those words would come from the girl. She also never could have imagined the effect they would have on her. Her heart jumped into her throat before starting to thunder so hard it almost hurt. Her hands reached out and she gripped tightly to each one of the sleeves of Nicole’s shirt. She gave a tug and brought them closer together. Her eyes fluttered a few times. Then the least expected reaction of them all happened when she lifted to her toes and pressed her lips quickly against Nicole’s.

It had all happened so fast. Nicole was completely surprised by the kiss. She had just been speaking from her heart and had wanted Waverly to know the truth. She had never anticipated Waverly would kiss her. But she had. So Nicole immediately returned the gesture by scooping her hand to the back of Waverly’s head and pulling her closer as her lips parted to show Waverly just how welcome the kiss had been.

Maybe it was the emotions that were coursing through her because of everything that was going on at home. Maybe it had been the culmination of all the unexpected and confusing things Nicole had made her feel. Whatever it was it was serving to block that part of Waverly’s brain that told her to hold back. For the first time in her life she was giving into an urge simply because it felt good. Nicole made her feel good. No, Nicole made her feel like she was the most important person in the world and in this moment she was powerless to stop herself from fully enjoying it.

Her lips parted and her tongue slid out. She was greeted by Nicole’s venturing tongue and the two of them easily fell into a kiss that seemed as if they had been born to do it. It felt natural and real and as if for a moment in time there was nothing bad that could ever happen in the world as long as they were wrapped up in this kiss.

Then Waverly pulled back. This kiss had been longer than she had intended. She had felt heat rising to warm her body and she knew it was desire. She had felt that desire nearly boil over in that moment and somehow she had managed to back herself away. She drew in a breath and lifted a hand to her mouth. She looked up at Nicole with wide eyes as if she was just now realizing what she had done. She shook her head and let out a soft breath of a laugh “I don’t know where that came from.”

“I am not complaining” Nicole said with a very light laugh as her tongue swept over her lips gently. “I think I am just as surprised as you seem to be.”

“I’m sorry I just-” Waverly stopped herself and let out a sigh. She dropped her hand from her mouth and looked at Nicole with a wide smile now. “I’m not sorry. I don’t regret that at all.”

“Good. I was starting to sweat over here” Nicole said with a playful smirk as she lifted her hand and pretended to wipe sweat from her brow.

Waverly rolled her eyes very softly and let out a light laugh “You see that right there? You’re goofy and you are so without any shame. You’re so true to yourself and it makes it really hard not to like you.”

“Oh you like me huh?” Nicole smirked even more as her eyebrows gave a playful dance now.

“Shut up” Waverly said with a giggle as she stepped back into Nicole. She wrapped her arms around her and gave her a tight hug. She then pulled back just enough to look up at the girl but did not pull her arms away. “Thank you for cheering me up. I really needed it.”

“Anytime” Nicole said seriously but still with a smile on her lips. Her hand lifted and she gently used it to brush her fingers back through Waverly’s long hair. Her eyes held a soft gaze as she took in the simple beauty of the girl that was now in her arms. She let out a happy sigh “I’m just glad I could help.”

“You help more than you could ever know” Waverly mumbled before burying her face against Nicole’s shoulder. She took a few moments to just be held like that before she slowly turned her head and laid it against the shoulder now so her eyes fell on the view outside the huge window. There the two of them stood, enjoying the embrace of one another and the amazing view outside, silently replaying what had unfolded and wondering where this journey was heading now.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	11. #11 - Mark Messier

The following week had been a busy one for everyone. The hockey team was doing two practices a day on the days they did not have games. They had four more preseason games, including three on the road, before the start of their regular season. Nedley really wanted everyone to crack down and be in top shape going into the season. This wasn’t really a big deal to Nicole, or Wynonna, because both of them were more than dedicated to doing the best they could their senior year so the more practice they got the better.

The additional games the team had played had only served to strengthen the on-ice bond between Wynonna and Nicole. They were working together better than anyone could have ever anticipated. In fact, they were doing so well together that they were already creating a buzz in the hockey world. Most believed that with these two on the ice the team was sure to not only be successful but potentially break records along the way. There were a lot of people already counting them as a sure thing for the Regional Championship. Some were even saying they had a real shot at the National Cup. 

The success on the ice had already led to a closeness off the ice, too. They had gone from tolerating one another to being polite to each other to being friendly. They had inside jokes. They were always together in the locker room or on the bus to the away games. It was a nice change. It seemed that both of them were more relaxed now which only served to be all the more beneficial for their on-ice play.

But the stress and anxiety of wondering what prank was coming next from Wynonna had now been replaced with the dread of Wynonna finding out that Nicole was dating her little sister. Waverly had tried to tell Wynonna a few times but the conversation had never fully blossomed. Wynonna was always tired. She was getting up early for practice, going to school or games, and then coming back to the hotel later than usual. She would go straight to bed and tell Waverly not to bother her. 

Waverly was starting to grow more anxious about it too. She knew that the longer she waited to tell her sister the more angry she would be. But she also knew she had to deliver the news in the right way. She knew how Wynonna handled hard news and the circumstances had to be perfect or it could easily turn into a disaster. But the perfect time didn’t seem to exist. Between school and hanging out at Nicole’s after school most nights she didn’t see Wynonna hardly at all. When she did it was early in the morning or late at night and Wynonna was not interested in talking. She was starting to wonder if the chance would ever come up.

“Hey” Nicole slid into the open seat next to Waverly at the lunch table where she sat. She looked around quickly to make sure that Wynonna was not around, since they all had the same lunch hour, before she looked over at the girl. She gave her a soft smile and nodded at the wide eyed panic look that Waverly was already giving her “I know, I know, we’re not supposed to be seen sitting together until you tell her. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Waverly gave a quick nod and looked around too. No one had really seemed to take notice that Nicole had joined her at lunch. Maybe it wasn’t all that much of a big deal anymore since Wynonna and Nicole had started to become friends. The scandal of dating her sister’s enemy wasn’t really a big thing anymore. Maybe that’s why no one had noticed. She quickly shook that thought away and looked back to Nicole with a soft flicker of a smile “What’s up?”

“So we have a road trip this weekend, the team I mean, and I am sharing a room with Wynonna. That means that all of our downtime between games is going to be spent together. That also means I can’t text you or call you and have a big old smile on my face around her because you know she’s going to ask about it and try and give me shit” Nicole huffed out a laugh at that. Wynonna was actually really nosy which was something that surprised her. 

Waverly nodded in agreement. Wynonna liked to be in everyone’s business all the time. It was a small town where there wasn’t really much else to do and at least this way she stayed out of trouble. Mostly.

“I need you to tell her before this weekend” Nicole said quickly. She stood up from the table now and looked around. No one had taken any notice to the two of them together. She glanced down at Waverly and nodded seriously “Please, Waves. I can’t go on a road trip and be expected to play my best with this weight on me.”

“Okay” Waverly said quickly as her eyes flickered up to look at Nicole. Their gazes met for a moment and she could see the pleading behind Nicole’s eyes. She felt so guilty. She had to stop making excuses and just blurt it out whether Wynonna was in the mood to talk or not. “You’re right. I’ll tell her before you guys leave.”

“Cool” Nicole put on a quick smile then glanced around again. She let out a sigh because she hated sneaking around. She didn’t care who knew but she also knew that Wynonna could not find out from anyone else but Waverly. It was killing her to have to be so secretive. She looked back at Waverly and nodded just once “I’ll see you after practice?”

“Totally” Waverly’s smile was soft but it was genuine. She knew that Nicole was stressed about all of it. She was too. She was dreading the moment her sister found out that they had been going out behind her back. It wasn’t that they were trying to deceive her. It was just a delicate subject to which neither of them knew how she would react. But it was time to bite the bullet because it had gone passed a few dates and it was an actual thing. They were dating. 

Waverly gave a sigh as Nicole walked away. She hated this entire thing. She knew if it was anyone else in the world, boy or girl, she would be able to tell her sister and not fear her reaction. Actually, she wouldn’t even really care about her reaction. Wynonna didn’t think anyone was good enough for Waverly. She had urged her little sister not to date until after high school anyway because, as she had said, high school relationships aren’t real. So hearing that Waverly was dating would annoy Wynonna regardless of who it was. But this was different. Everything about it was different.

She shook the thought from her head as she gathered her stuff from the lunch table and got up. She wasn’t hungry anymore. Maybe she could find Wynonna before classes started up again and just get it over with. Like ripping off the bandaid. Blurt it out then say she has to go to class so she doesn’t have to be around for the aftermath. That wasn’t fair but at the moment it sounded like an ideal solution. Maybe Waverly was a bit of a coward. Or maybe she was terrified of seeing the look on her sister’s face. Would it be riddled with pain? Would it be betrayal? The unknown was the worst part of it all. Waverly hated the unknown. But she knew she had to face it if she stood any chance of moving forward into a happier, lighter future.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Waverly didn’t see Wynonna that night. She came home after midnight when Waverly was already asleep. She was gone the next morning before Waverly had gotten up. Every time she passed her in the hallway Wynonna was in a hurry to her next class. It was weird. Wynonna had always been focused when it came to hockey season. She had a work ethic that surprised anyone who knew the sassy and sarcastic part of Wynonna. Most people thought she was a slacker who got lucky by being good at hockey. A lot of people assumed she got good grades because the teachers at school knew she was the star of the team and didn’t wanna fail her. But really she worked hard for those grades and Waverly knew that.

But this was different. She was distant. She seemed distracted. She was never around. Waverly was starting to worry after the third night of Wynonna sneaking into the hotel room after midnight. She felt like her sister was going through something and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Wynonna tried to handle everything alone and Waverly needed to remind her that now, more than ever, they had to be a team and work together. 

Now it was the night before the team was to leave for the road trip and Waverly knew she had to tell her sister about herself and Nicole. She had promised Nicole. It was the right thing to do. So she was going to stay up all night and wait for Wynonna to get back to the hotel room if she had to. She could also ask her what was going on and hopefully her concern would outweigh the anger Wynonna was sure to have toward her.

When she walked into the hotel room that night she was surprised to see Wynonna sitting at the small table in the room looking over some books. She was obviously studying. This made Waverly smile. “There you are” She said softly as she closed the door and moved to set her backpack on her bed.

“Here I am” Wynonna mumbled without looking up from what she was reading.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in a week” Waverly said with a soft frown as she moved closer to her sister. She took a seat on the edge of the bed closest to Wynonna and let out a sigh “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“Sorry. I’ve been busy” Wynonna again showed no real emotion as she spoke. She just shrugged her shoulders then turned the page in her book. 

“Wynonna” Waverly sighed heavily as she eyed her sister. She could tell just by looking at her that there was something going on. Her sister just had not been the same person lately and that killed her to see. Wynonna was her best friend. She was the best person she had ever known in her entire life. There were so many incredible things about her sister and she saw none of them as she looked at the slumped over figure shaped like her sister in that moment. Her head shook and she spoke almost as if she were afraid that if she spoke loudly she would shatter her sister’s shell “What’s going on?”

“Nothing” Wynonna shrugged again and for the first time since Waverly had come into the room she looked up. She offered a weak half smile then looked back at her book. “Just a lot going on. The season starts next week, I have a test Monday, we’re staying in a hotel because our father is a donkey dick of a man, and I have like fifteen college applications to work on.” 

“I can help with those” Waverly said with a sad sigh. “Wynonna, why don’t you ever ask for my help?” She motioned at herself and shook her head “You have done so much for me without ever asking anything in return. But I’m here” She scooted to the very edge of the bed now and reached out to put a hand on her sister’s leg. “You do not have to carry this burden all by yourself, Wynonna. I’m not a baby anymore.”

“But I’m your big sister, Waverly” Wynonna said with a slight shake of her head. “I am supposed to protect you and take care of you. It’s my job. I got a handbook about it when you were born.” She looked up and cracked the smallest smile at her own joke. It faded quickly and her head gave another shake “And since Willa dipped out on her sisterly duties without looking back I wanted to make sure I didn’t do the same.” Her eyes dropped back to her book and her entire body slumped with a sigh “You deserve so much more than this shitty life, babygirl.”

“So do you” Waverly stood now and moved to take a seat in the second chair around the small table in the room. She reached out and took hold of both of her sister’s hands. She gave them a tight squeeze, pulling them a few times, until Wynonna finally looked at her. She offered her a sincere look that told her how honest she was being as she spoke “Wynonna you’ve done more than most would do in your position. We are so close to getting out of here. I don’t want you to burn yourself out, okay? I can handle some of the weight you’re carrying.”

Wynonna just shook her head. She closed her eyes for a moment and pulled in a slow breath. As she released it her eyes came open. She focused on her sister and after a few long seconds she finally puffed out a sigh and threw one hand up in a full arm shrug “I got a job doing dishes at Shorty’s. That is why I’ve been coming in so late.”

“You got a job?” Waverly’s entire face fell in shock. She stared at her sister in disbelief for a few long seconds before her head quickly shook. “Why did you do that? You need to be focusing on hockey and school!”

Wynonna huffed out again and used her free hand to motion around the room they were sitting in. Her eyes darted this way and that at various things in the room before coming back to focus on her sister “I refuse to be a charity case, Waverly. I also don’t believe that whoever this supposed anonymous donor is has actual good intentions by doing this. I feel like they are going to reveal themselves and then announce all these conditions for us staying in the room. I don’t want that. I don’t want to be indebted to someone I don’t know. So I’m trying to pay our bill as best as I can until we can get out of here.”

“Wynonna, that’s not going to happen. Why can’t you just believe that someone is just being kind?” Waverly shook her head. Her heart was aching. She wished she could just tell her sister the truth.

“No one is this kind without wanting something in return” Wynonna mumbled. She pulled out a folded piece of the local newspaper and held it out toward Waverly “I’ve been looking at apartments. I think that we might be able to afford one in like a month. I mean the season is about to start so I’ll have less hours at Shorty’s but the lady who owns it knows I play and she’s willing to work around my schedule which is cool. Not a lot of places will do that.”

“Wynonna, you don’t have to do any of this” Waverly said with a quick shake of her head. She motioned around the room they were in before looking back at her sister. “We have a place to stay and it is being taken care of by someone who wants to help. Why isn’t that enough?”

“Waverly, I’m telling you” Wynonna started as her head shook again “no one is this nice. Whoever it is wants something. For all we know it’s daddy and he’s going to hold this over our heads for the rest of our lives.”

“It’s not daddy” Waverly said with a roll of her eyes.

“How do you know?” Wynonna said with a shrug. “Who else knows we left home?”

Waverly opened her mouth to argue but stopped. As far as she knew no one knew about their situation. Aside from Nicole, of course.

“See?” Wynonna motioned her hand at Waverly as if she had just solidified her point. “It’s fucking shady, Waves. I don’t like it. So I am going to make sure to take care of it.”

“You don’t have to” Waverly repeated with a heavy sigh.

“I’ve already decided” Wynonna said firmly. “You can’t change my mind.”

“Please, Wynonna. You’re going to run yourself ragged. You need to be focusing on hockey right now.” Waverly bit her lip and looked at her sister with a pleading gaze. “That’s all you should worry about.”

“It’s settled already Waverly.” Wynonna slammed her book shut and got up off her chair. She moved over toward the bedside table and grabbed her keys. She then moved toward the door. She paused to scoop up her coat before looking back at her sister “I am going to go get some dinner from Shorty’s. The lady there said I can take home one meal a day. We can share it.”

“Wynonna stop” Waverly got up quickly and reached out as if she were going to grab her sister even though she was all the way across the room.

“I’m done discussing this” Wynonna reached for the door and pulled it open before Waverly could stop her now.

“It’s Nicole!” Waverly yelled out in a panic as soon as she saw Wynonna stepping through the door. When she realized what she had done her eyes went wide in surprise. She had definitely not meant to blurt that out but she felt like it was the only move she had left.

Wynonna had paused her steps. She held onto the doorknob as she stood there frozen. What Waverly had just yelled at her bounced around her head for a few seconds before she finally backed up into the room. She turned to look at her sister curiously, almost like she wasn’t really sure she had just heard her correctly, and tilted her head to the side. “What did you say?”

“Well, Nicole’s parents’ company, technically” Waverly said much softer now. She bit her lip nervously and her hands now tangled together in front of her as she anxiously pulled at her own fingers. “That’s who is paying for the hotel.”

“What?” Wynonna sounded less skeptical and more surprised now. She pushed the door closed behind her and tossed her coat on the bed. She gave her head one shake and motioned to where her sister stood “Explain.”

“Apparently her parents have this company that rebuilds old housing complexes. They update them and bring them up to code and all that. If there are homeless people living in the old buildings they offer them jobs to help with the renovations. They also put them up in hotels if they have no other place to stay during the job” Waverly let out a soft sigh and motioned vaguely to the side. “Nicole heard about us coming out of the hotel a couple weeks ago and wanted to help.”

Wynonna was stunned. She stared blankly at her sister as her mind tried to grasp all of the information that was now whirling around her head. It was a lot to take in. She wasn’t really sure she had absorbed any of it. It all seemed unreal to her. She knew that Nicole had overheard the girls talking about them and put a stop to it. She knew that Nicole had starting putting together the pieces about what was happening with their father. But they had never talked about it before.

After a moment, Wynonna let out a soft puff of a breath and her head shook. She blinked a few times and her eyes focused on her sister “Why?”

Waverly just shrugged and took a step toward her sister now that it seemed like she wasn’t angry anymore. “She’s kind. She likes you” She smiled at that and gave a slight nod “She just wanted to help. Simple as that.”

“Wait” Wynonna held up her hand now to stop the approach from her sister. She gave her head another shake and perked an eyebrow now suspiciously at her “How do you know this?”

“Oh” Waverly bit her lip and lifted a single shoulder to her ear in a shrug. She was nervous now. This was the conversation she had been dreading. But now was as good a time as ever. So she took a step to the side and turned to sit on the edge of the bed before looking at her sister with a little nod “Well we’ve been hanging out. I interviewed her for that article and we really hit it off.”

“You’re friends with her?” Wynonna looked surprised again. “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean that one time we ran into you in the parking lot after our first game you two acted like you didn’t know each other.”

“Well” Waverly shrugged again and motioned for Wynonna to sit on the other bed in the room. “You two weren’t really getting along at first and I didn’t want you pissed at her. I wanted you two to have a chance of maybe actually liking each other, you know?” She gave a little smile and motioned vaguely behind her now in the general direction of somewhere else “And look! You two are getting along amazingly!”

Wynonna gave a shrug at that because it was true. Her and Nicole were getting along well. Better than anyone could have anticipated, especially herself. As she sat on the edge of the bed now a thought occurred to her and she looked over at her sister suspiciously again “Wait, does she know about…” She motioned to the last remaining bruises from the black eye her dad had given her the previous week.

Waverly bit her again and nodded just once.

“Waves!” Wynonna huffed and stood up from the bed quickly. “No wonder she’s being nice to me! She feels sorry for me.” She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. “I knew it was too good to be true! She’s not really trying to be my friend she just feels bad for me.”

“No, no, it’s not like that!” Waverly stood up too and held her hands up toward Wynonna in a motion to try and keep her calm. “You two had already done your little peace treaty thing before she really started to figure it out. Then she heard the two girls talking about us leaving the hotel and she stepped in of her own accord. Not because she was friends with me and not because she felt sorry for you. It’s because she is a good person. In fact…” Waverly let her hands drop and she lifted her shoulders in a shrug instead “...she opened the tab at the hotel before she even knew we were sisters.”

This seemed to once more surprise Wynonna. She fluttered her eyes in a few quick blinks as if trying to focus on what had just been said. When she was finally able to settle her eyes again they landed on her sister and she could see that Waverly was being honest. She finally relented her defensive stance and plopped back to the bed with a sigh “So you’re telling me I was a total shitbag to her and she still decided to be nice to me just because that’s who she is?”

Waverly let out a bit of a laugh and moved over to where her sister sat. She moved to sit right next to her and gave a little nod “I know you wanted her to be a dick nugget that you could continue to hate regardless of the fact that she’s now your teammate.” She reached out and patted her sister’s leg gently “Sorry you’re disappointed. I guess you’ll just have to find a new enemy.”

Wynonna laughed now and rolled her eyes slightly. She turned to look at her sister and offered her a genuine smile “It was getting exhausting trying to hate someone for no reason. Maybe I’ll stick to just being a dickhole on the ice.”

“Really?” Waverly looked at her sister with a look of pleasant surprise on her face. “I never thought I’d see the day that Wynonna Earp stopped acting like a total twat to everyone she met.”

Wynonna laughed through her nose as her arm lifted around her sister. She pulled her into her side and touched a kiss to the side of her head “You’re lucky we’re family or I would have been an especially large twat toward you.”

“You still are” Waverly smirked and gave her sister a playful poke in the ribs.

“Yeah but, like, only cause I love you” Wynonna moved her hand up and mussed Waverly’s hair about before standing up now. She moved back over to grab her coat and keys once more. She glanced at Waverly and gave a little nod “I’m going to go get dinner.”

“Wait” Waverly held up her hand to stop her sister again. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”

“I’m starving” Wynonna groaned as her hand moved over her stomach. “I’ll be gone ten minutes.”

“Fine. But hurry back” Waverly let out a heavy sigh but gave in because she knew there was no arguing with hungry Wynonna. 

Wynonna held up a peace sign with her fingers then turned and left the room. She knew she should be upset that her sister had been keeping that secret about Nicole providing them with the hotel but, if she was being honest, she was relieved. She had been terrified that someone would own up to it and want something from her as pay back. Now, though, she could enjoy it. She would definitely have to punch Nicole the next time she saw her because, well, that is how she communicated all of her feelings. It would be a light punch, in the arm, but she definitely had to punch her. A smile came to her face at the thought. Stupid Nicole Haught. She had turned out to be nothing but a pleasant surprise. Wynonna had not realized how badly she had needed an actual friend until Nicole had come along. She would never admit it but she was glad she had moved to town.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

“You didn’t tell her?” Nicole’s eyes widened and her whispered hiss rose in the cold morning air. They were outside the high school loading the equipment they would need for their roadtrip. It was early the next morning and they would be heading out for their weekend road trip in just a few minutes.

Waverly shook her head and grabbed hold of Nicole’s hand. She pulled her to the side, away from the bus, and out of ear shot. She glanced around and when she saw Wynonna standing near her truck yawning and drinking her coffee she let out a sigh. She looked back at Nicole and shrugged “I was going to. Like, literally, it was on my tongue and then she went to go get dinner.” She rolled her eyes and motioned to her sister who looked half asleep across the parking lot. “She apparently decided to pick up an extra shift at Shorty’s last night and got home like three hours ago.”

“What?” Nicole blinked once. She stared at Waverly like she had spoken a completely different language to her. She then huffed out an amused laugh that lifted in a cloud through the cold air and shook her head. “Wynonna has a job?”

“Yeah” Waverly huffed too and watched her breath rise in the air. She then gave her head a quick shake as she folded her arms across herself. The sun hadn’t even come up yet and it was bone-chillingly cold. “We had a long talk long night. Apparently she got a job to pay for the hotel so that whoever was paying for it didn’t come back and hold it over our heads.”

“I wouldn’t” Nicole shook her head.

“I tried to tell her” Waverly said with a shrug. “But she was insistent that it didn’t feel right.” She sighed and a frown came over her features. “She thought it was our dad. She thought he was doing it so that he could use it as some sort of leverage over us or something.”

“Really?” Nicole glanced up now and looked across the lot to Wynonna. Her head gave a shake as she focused on the girl “She doesn’t trust anyone, does she?”

“No” Waverly said plainly. Then she let out another sigh and reached up to touch Nicole’s face. She brought her eyes back to look at her and when their gazes met hers was serious “I had to tell her it was you that was paying for the hotel.”

“Waverly!” Nicole yelped out the word in panic. She then realized what she had done and quickly looked around. Luckily it had either not been noticed or not been that loud because no one had turned to look at them. She let out a sigh of relief and looked back at Waverly now “Why did you do that?”

“So she would calm down” Waverly gave a defeated shrug. “So she would listen to me. So she would quit her job.” She looked back at her sister and gave her head a shake “She was running herself into the ground trying to do it all. I felt terrible. She needs her energy for hockey. So…” She shrugged slightly and looked back at Nicole with an almost guilty looking frown on her lips “It helped, though. Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad” Nicole sighed out. She focused her eyes on Waverly and could tell just how much weight she had been carrying by keeping the secret of the hotel. So she nodded once and offered a soft smile “It’s okay. She wasn’t mad?”

“No” Waverly said honestly. “She did think for a second that you were only being nice because you felt sorry for her because of daddy…” She rolled her eyes at that. She hated that she couldn’t even say what was happening at home. It made it too real. “But I told her that you had already started being nice to her and set up the hotel for her before you knew. That seemed to ease her mind.”

Nicole nodded again as her eyes once more lifted to Wynonna. She was relieved that the news of who the anonymous donor was had not made her mad. They were getting along so well and Nicole was really starting to love the game of hockey more than she ever had before. The last thing she wanted was for that to change because Wynonna was pissed at her. 

At that thought she let out a sigh and looked back at Waverly again “Okay. I guess I can go the weekend without her knowing about us considering everything she’s been dealing with lately. But as soon as we get home you have to tell her. I can’t go on like this much longer.”

“Promise” Waverly said very seriously. She lifted her hand and put it over her own heart and nodded “Cross my heart.”

“Okay” Nicole’s face softened and soon she was smiling. Waverly just had that effect on her. She never imagined a time that she could ever be really upset at the girl. It didn’t seem possible. She let out a soft sigh and laughed very lightly “I really want to kiss you right now.”

Waverly giggled and nodded in agreement. She lifted her hand and gently brushed her freezing fingers along Nicole’s cheek “You’ll see me Monday. It’s only four days.”

“Four days too long” Nicole grumbled as she stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.

“You’ll be so busy with hockey you won’t even have time to miss me” Waverly said with a roll of her eyes and another light laugh.

“What we laughing about?” Wynonna came out of nowhere now, causing them both to jump in fright, as she let out a long yawn.

“Jesus Christ, Earp” Nicole said with a laugh as she put a hand over her heart. “You have the heaviest step of anyone I’ve ever met. How the Hell did you just sneak up on us?”

Wynonna just shrugged because she was too tired to care. A small amused smirk did flicker onto her lips, though. She then looked at Waverly and gave her a little nod “Sorry I didn’t come back last night. But I got a shit ton of tips so we can go buy groceries when we get back.”

“It’s okay” Waverly said with a little nod. “I appreciate it. But that is your last shift, right?”

Wynonna just shrugged. She looked at Nicole, then at Waverly, and gave her head a shake. “I’m not going to be working as much since I don’t have to save up for an apartment anymore…” She turned now and looked at Nicole. She suddenly brought her fist back then quickly swung it forward to connect a punch with Nicole’s arm. “That’s for being nice to me” She mumbled then looked back at Waverly as if she had not just done that “But if I need cash for food or whatever my boss said I can pick up a shift whenever I want.”

“Ouch” Nicole grumbled and rubbed her arm gently. “You’re welcome, I guess.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes and smirked again. How Nicole had lasted so long playing hockey was beyond her. The girl was a wimp. She shook the thought off and looked back at Waverly “Also Nedley said they need an extra equipment manager this weekend if you want to come along on the trip? You can just crash in our room” She motioned to Nicole without looking at her “since you’re my sister we can share a bed and it’s not illegal or whatever.”

“What?” Nicole and Waverly squeaked out at the same time.

Wynonna perked an eyebrow and looked between the two of them. She eyed them carefully because she did not understand that reaction. After a moment she gave her head a shake and looked back at her sister “Come on, Waverly. I don’t like the idea of you staying here alone. What if daddy finds out where you are?”

“I…” Waverly shook her head as her eyes shifted from her sister to Nicole. She looked at her with wide eyes as if waiting for her to butt in and give her a good excuse. When Nicole looked to be completely frozen in shock she finally sighed and looked back at Wynonna “I’ll be fine here. I can stay with Jeremy if that will make you feel better?”

“Daddy knows where Jeremy lives” Wynonna said with a shrug. “Come on, why are you being so weird about this? Just come hang out with me this weekend.” She motioned to Nicole again and nodded a few times “And Haught too, since apparently you two are old pals. It’ll be a blast.”

“I don’t think that’s-”

Nicole was cut off by a call from Nedley for everyone to start boarding the bus. She let out a sigh and quickly gave her head a shake. She glanced at Waverly as if telling her it was up to her before she left the sisters and quickly moved to find a seat. She went as far back in the bus as she could and immediately slumped down against the seat once she sat. This was an absolute nightmare. Now she would be stuck with Wynonna and Waverly in the same room for hours on end with no escape. It was going to be so awkward. She had no idea how she was going to make it through.

“You’re coming” Wynonna was done arguing. She grabbed hold of Waverly’s wrist and started to pull her along with her. She let out a yawn as she did so. She was so tired. She was glad the bus ride was a few hours so she could take a nap.

“Wynonna, I don’t have any-” Waverly grunted and tried to pull away from her sister to no avail. It was no secret that Wynonna had some of the strongest hands in hockey and she was using that strength to grip her sister at the moment. Waverly let out a sigh and gave in, following in step behind her sister slowly, but shook her head in protest the entire time “I don’t have any clothes.”

“You can borrow mine. We wear the same size.” Wynonna glanced back at her sister with a nod. “And you have your backpack” She motioned to the bag that was on Waverly’s back. She had put it on because she was going to go to the library and study before school once Wynonna was gone. “Nedley will call and excuse you from your classes so you won’t get in trouble.”

Waverly rolled her eyes as they paused now just outside the door of the bus. She looked at her sister and folded her arms across her chest “You don’t have to baby me. I can take care of myself.”

“Just get on the bus” Wynonna motioned behind Waverly to where the driver was waiting for them.

Waverly relented with a sigh and turned around to climb the few steps up into the bus. She made her way down the aisle and immediately plopped down in a huff next to where Nicole sat. She looked at her sister with annoyance and gave her head a shake.

Wynonna just smirked triumphantly as she took her place in the empty seat across from Nicole and Waverly. She put her back against the window side of the bus and stretched her legs out toward the aisle. She looked at her sister and gave her a little nod before a yawn ripped through her lips. She drew the front part of the beanie that she wore down over her eyes then laid her head back against the window “Don’t wake me up for at least three hours or I’ll kill you.”

Waverly huffed and looked away from her sister. When she turned away she remembered she was sitting next to Nicole. Her anger faded slightly and was replaced by a little smile. She shrugged a single shoulder and spoke very softly as the bus started up and everyone was told to take a seat. “At least we don’t have to miss each other over the weekend?”

“This is a nightmare” Nicole whispered as the bus lurched into motion. “She’s going to find out. I am not going to be able to act normal around the two of you.”

“It’s fine” Waverly said with a nod as her hand gently moved to lay over Nicole’s leg. She held a soft smile on her lips as her eyes turned up and locked in on Nicole’s worried gaze. “I’ll tell her. Maybe she won’t even care? I mean I thought she’d be pissed when she found out it was you paying for the hotel but she was cool about it. Maybe she will be cool about this, too.”

“Yeah, right” Nicole huffed and flopped back against the back of the seat. She drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. Her eyes moved to look at where Wynonna sat trying to sleep. This was the worst situation she could ever imagine being in. She needed to be focused on the hockey tournament they were about to participate in and instead she knew she would be distracted by this. No wonder she never dated before. It was too much drama.

Nicole folded her arms across her chest and turned her back toward Waverly. This made Waverly perk an eyebrow. Well this was perfect. Her sister was asleep and Nicole was upset. She let out a heavy sigh and let her back come to rest against the back of the seat. She had to fix this. She was not going to spend the entire weekend trapped between the two of them. So as soon as they got off the bus she was going to tell Wynonna. Whatever happened after that they would deal with. It was too late for her to go home so her sister would just have to get over her anger or change rooms. Served her right for forcing Waverly to come along. She really shouldn’t be so bossy.

~.~.~.~.~.


	12. #12 - Jerome Iginla

As soon as they had gotten off the bus Waverly had been pulled aside by Nedley. He had wanted to go over what he expected from her this weekend. It wasn’t that he was worried she would cause trouble because everyone knew that Waverly was the good Earp. It was more about making sure she knew that he expected her to work. Hockey was a game that needed a lot of equipment and he wanted to make sure that she understood that. Not that Waverly was clueless. She had basically been force fed hockey for as long as she could remember. But Nedley had a certain way he liked things and he wanted to make sure that Waverly, and the other two equipment managers, knew what he wanted out of them.

The fact that Nicole had to go to the room alone with Wynonna immediately sparked up her anxiety. She had been alone with Wynonna countless times before but now it was different. Now there was the looming storm cloud that could rip open and dump rain over them at any time. She suddenly felt like she didn’t know how to act around her. Could Wynonna tell that Nicole was dating her sister now? Was that something she would just be able to pick up on? Nicole didn’t have siblings so she didn’t know just how deep the connection ran. What if Wynonna looked at her and could just see the fact that her sister’s lips had been all over Nicole’s? The thought was agonizing because if she was asked about it she would not be able to lie. Nicole was good at a lot of things but lying was not one of them.

Luckily Wynonna seemed far too distracted by the hotel. It was a nice hotel and it was currently overrun with several dozen teenagers. Most of them were strangers but both Nicole and Wynonna knew some of them. In small town Canadian hockey you tended to run into the same few girls no matter what team you played on. Some of them had been on the Junior National Team with Wynonna for a few years and some of them were the stars of other rival high schools. 

Nicole kept her eyes down. She did not want to run into anyone she knew. Her old high school team was at the same hotel and she knew if she saw any of her old teammates it would be awkward. Not that it had been her choice to move away from the team but she still felt like the girls were bitter she had left. Without her their chances of winning anything had plummeted and she had already been ghosted by a lot of girls when she had attempted to contact them to see if they were still friends.

She was standing at the elevator waiting for it to arrive on her floor when she heard her name come from behind her. She groaned because she recognized who it was immediately. It was the girl from her old team who thought she was the best player they had and was always jealous when Nicole found more success than her.

“Meg!” Nicole pretended to sound happy to see the girl as she turned around with a forced smile on her face. “Hey, dude. Good to see you.”

“Where’s your new girlfriend?” Meg snarled as she stepped up in front of Nicole and folded her arms in front of her chest. She eyed Nicole up and down and shook her head just once in disgust at the sight of her.

“WH-what?” Nicole’s eyes went wide in panic at the mention of her girlfriend. How did she know about Waverly? Also, why did she care about Waverly? Was Waverly going to be beaten up or something? She stood there frozen in panic as her mind raced with worry.

“Earp” Meg said with a roll of her eyes. “I heard you two were, like, super buddy buddy.” She snorted out the last word and shook her head again. “Who knew you would betray us so quickly.”

“I didn’t…” Nicole started but gave up with a sigh. Her head shook and she motioned to the side in a sort of defeated shrug “My parents moved me, Meg. What was I supposed to do?”

“Stay” Meg huffed with another roll of her eyes. “There were families willing to sponsor you, Haught. You could have stayed with one of the girls and finished what you started. Instead you ran away.” At the last of her words her tone weakened and for just a split second she sounded hurt. It faded quickly and she shook it away before letting the venom return to her tone “You never could stay loyal, could you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nicole’s face curled down into a frown now. 

“Pee-wees” Meg said with a single shrug. “You swapped teams after three games because the coach from the Bandits promised you’d be a starter.”

“Maybe that’s because the coach of the Hawks was your dad” Nicole hissed out with fire starting to build in her tone. “You have always been jealous of me and you cried to your daddy about it and he benched me for no reason.”

“You think I’ve ever been jealous of you?” Meg laughed out as if that was the most ridiculous idea in the world. 

“Ever since the day I deke’d around you, put the puck through your legs, and knotted you up like a pretzel on the ice” Nicole’s chest puffed out now as she growled her words. She was started to feel her hockey meanness boil inside her.

“We were eleven” Meg said with a snorted laugh as she stepped closer to Nicole and put a finger on her chest. “I can skate circles around you now and you know it.”

“I’m waiting” Nicole didn’t back down. Instead she leaned into the firm press of the finger against her chest and brought her face closer to Meg’s. Her eyes narrowed and she gave a single shrug “Something tells me I'll be waiting forever.”

This seemed to be the last straw for Meg. She had been about to shove her hands against Nicole's chest to push her back against the wall but the attempt was cut off by a sharp nudge from behind. She quickly whirled around to retaliate but stopped when she was met with a bored looking Wynonna standing there.

“This troll bugging you, Haught?” Wynonna asked with a smirk on her lips as her eyes bore into Meg with a fire so hot it looked like she was trying to light her head on fire. Wynonna had a lot of enemies in hockey and Meg was one of them.

“No” Nicole mumbled and stepped back with a frown on her lips. She eyed Wynonna and the way Meg immediately backed down and let out a sigh. Now Meg would have another thing to hold over her. 

“Good” Wynonna put on a forced smile and held her glare on Meg for just another moment before she blinked and finally looked away. She gave Nicole a nod and motioned to the elevator that had opened behind her “I got our room keys. Let's go.”

Before Nicole could argue Wynonna was walking by her and grabbing her arm to pull her along. She stumbled backwards into the elevator next to Wynonna. As she gained her balance she looked back out into the lobby and saw Meg snickering as the elevator doors closed.

She tugged her arm out of Wynonna's grip with a huff now “Why the Hell did you do that? Now she's gonna tell everyone I have you fighting my battles for me.”

“I didn't do anything” Wynonna mumbled as she stared at her phone while the elevator started to move.

“You just…” Nicole motioned to the doors to indicate where they had just been standing and huffed again. “I didn't need your help. I'm not afraid of her.”

“Not that I thought either of you were stupid enough to start a fight in the middle of the lobby” Wynonna started as she finally looked up from her phone “but it looked like she was about to try and I didn't want you trying to prove anything and getting yourself suspended for the weekend.”

“I can fight my own battles, Wynonna” Nicole sighed and gave her head a shake. The doors finally opened and Nicole shoved passed Wynonna and into the hallway. She was going to storm off but she quickly realized she didn't know what room they were in. So she rolled her eyes and turned around to look at Wynonna with annoyance. “Can I have a room key?”

An amused smirk was planted on Wynonna's lips as she handed the key card to Nicole without hesitation. “527” She said with a nod.

Nicole snatched the card and stormed off down the hall. She found their room, stuffed the card in the lock, waited for it to open, then stormed into the room. She threw her backpack onto a bed and quickly kicked each of her shoes off in frustration. She then turned and stared at the door. As soon as Wynonna came in she was going to start yelling. 

Wynonna walked in a few moments later with a hand raised in surrender. She slid into the room and clicked the door closed behind her. She could see Nicole was mad so she stood against the door with her hand held in front of her in a gesture of peace. When it seemed Nicole took a breath and calmed herself, Wynonna gave a nod “You're right I shouldn't have stepped in.”

“Thank you!” Nicole barked and lifted her arms out to the side in two full arm shrugs.

“But” Wynonna slowly dropped her hand now that it seemed Nicole had calmed down just slightly. “I know you're the world's worst fighter so, really, I was saving you from far more embarrassment. I mean can you imagine how stupid you'd look if you got knocked down in one punch by her?” A smirk of amusement rose on her lips as she spoke. The thought of Nicole trying to fight was hilarious to her.

Nicole just rolled her eyes and turned her back on Wynonna. She scooped up her bag that she had thrown and moved to place it much more neatly on a chair near the window. She then opened the curtains to let some sunshine into the room. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was trying to remind herself that Wynonna meant well and was no longer trying to make her life a living Hell.

“Look, man” Wynonna spoke a little more softly as she moved to now put her own backpack on the bed not claimed by Nicole. “Waverly told me what you did and I was just trying to pay you back.”

“You don’t have to pay me back” Nicole mumbled as she turned back around to face Wynonna now,

“Yeah right” Wynonna huffed softly as she unzipped her bag.

“What does that mean?” Nicole shrugged slightly and moved to pick up one of her shoes that she had kicked off in anger.

Wynonna just shook her head. Her eyes were focused inside her bag but she wasn’t really looking at anything. Her movements had paused as she thought it over. After a moment she let out a sigh and looked back up at Nicole “Nothing in this life is free and no one does things like that for no reason. I know you’re gonna want something in return eventually.” She looked back at her bag again with a bit of a frown “They always want something in return.”

Nicole’s eyes narrowed on Wynonna. She was hurt by the accusation and that hurt was turning into anger very rapidly. She could feel it boiling up. She was about to snap when she saw a flash of the defeated looking frown on Wynonna’s face. Instantly her anger dropped and was replaced with a sense of sadness. The girl truly believed no one had been decent to her in her entire life. This made Nicole’s heart ache. She let out a sigh and spoke softly now “You really don’t trust anyone, do you?”

Wynonna tried to give an annoyed roll of her eyes but it fell short. She glanced at Nicole for only a moment before shrugging and looking back at what she was doing. She was quiet for a moment before she finally gave her head a slight shake “Everyone in my life that was supposed to have my back has turned out to be nothing but sackless scum. Except Waverly… She glanced up at Nicole quickly then back to her bag. “So, no, Nicole I do not trust people very easily.”

“Well you can trust me” Nicole spoke softly but with a tone so sincere it almost seemed too good to be true. Though Wynonna was not looking at her it did not stop her from keeping her gaze locked on the girl. She did not let her stare waver. She let her words linger in hopes that Wynonna heard them and truly believed them.

Wynonna didn’t want to admit it but the way Nicole had spoken to her had really touched her to the core. No one had showed this type of unbridled concern for her well being without asking for anything in return. It kind of unnerved her. She was not sure how to accept it. So in true Wynonna fashion she deflected with sarcasm. She glanced up at Nicole and gave her a crooked smirk “And you can trust me when I say I saved your ass from an embarrassing beat down earlier.”

Nicole’s head shook and she finally broke the gaze she had been holding. She was too tired to keep going around in circles with Wynonna. So she grabbed her other shoe and moved to sit on the edge of her bed so she could put them back on her feet “I wouldn’t have fought with her. I know I wouldn’t be able to play this weekend if I did that. I’m not stupid.”

“I guess you’re right” Wynonna shrugged and pulled a book out of her backpack now. “You’re smart enough to avoid fights because you’re so terrible at them.” Her smirk rose again and she glanced at Nicole. Now she was just trying to annoy her.

“Fine” Nicole stomped her foot to the ground after putting her shoe on and looked at Wynonna now. “I am not a fighter! Is that what you want me to say? Do you really need me to confirm what I already know? You’re the fighter and you want everyone to know it. I get it.” She stood up now and moved toward the door. She paused when she grabbed the handle and looked back at Wynonna “Will you do me a favor and stick to be the enforcer on the ice? There’s no need to be a bully to everyone around you.”

“Oh come on, Haught. I am just giving you shit” Wynonna laughed softly and motioned to the girl with a little shrug. “Stop being so sensitive about it.”

“How about you stop picking on people as a way to distract yourself from your own shitty life” Nicole growled the words as she pulled the door open. She stormed out and into the hallway before she really even realized what had just come out of her mouth.

Wynonna stood stunned for a good few seconds. She could not believe Nicole had the audacity to say such a thing to her. She gave an angry shake of her head and punched her backpack off the bed and onto the floor. She looked at the door and snarled out at it as if it were still Nicole standing there “Well I sure as Hell know I can’t trust you now, bitch.”

Nicole was storming down the hallway so quickly she didn’t really take notice of anything else around her. She was so blinded by her own boiling annoyance at Wynonna that she had a bad case of tunnel vision. She needed to get outside and get some fresh air in hopes that it would clear her head.

When the elevator doors opened and she stepped on she plowed right into someone. The contact shook her from her haze of anger and she quickly reached out to grab hold of the person she had run into in an attempt to keep them from falling backwards. “I am so sorry I didn’t see you!”

“In a hurry?” Waverly groaned out softly and reached around to her back where it had been pushed not so lightly against the wall of the elevator when they had collided.

“Shit” Nicole frowned and looked down in shock at Waverly. She moved her hands from where she gripped each of her arms and gently reached up to touch at her face “I am so sorry, Waves. I wasn’t paying attention. I was-”

“What happened?” Waverly cut Nicole off when she saw her face. She could tell that the girl was upset about something.

Nicole blinked and shook her head quickly to try and rid herself from any expression that showed she was upset. She just shrugged and gently pulled her hands from Waverly now that the focus was on herself. “Nothing. I was just going to take a walk outside.”

Waverly perked an eyebrow. She looked Nicole up and down very slowly before her head nodded just once. She folded her arms firmly across her chest and fixed Nicole was a glare now “What happened?”

“Nothing!” Nicole repeated with a frustrated huff as she tossed her hands up in a weak attempt of a shrug. “God why are you and your sister so damn nosy?”

Waverly’s eyelids fluttered a few times at the words Nicole hissed out. She then closed her eyes for a moment, drew in a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and opened her eyes. She put on a forced smile that looked eerily like the one Wynonna used when she was pretending to care. She tilted her head to the side and gave a single nod “Want to try that again without being unnecessarily rude to me?”

Nicole’s stomach instantly twisted with guilt at the look of Waverly’s face. She knew she had snapped at her unjustly. She immediately deflated her defensive stance and let out a very heavy sigh. Her hand lifted to her face and she pushed the pad of her thumb and forefinger into her eyelids as she drew in a deep breath through her nose. Slowly her eyes fluttered opened once her hand dropped away and she frowned at Waverly who was still staring at her expectantly “You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

Waverly gave another single nod. She then turned and pressed the button for the lobby. As the elevator started down she turned back to Nicole. She reached out and very lightly laid her hand against Nicole’s arm “What happened?”

Nicole just shook her head as her eyes lifted to watch the numbers above the elevator doors drop slowly as they descended. She let out a sigh and spoke very gently “A girl from my old team was trying to start shit with me. Wynonna stepped in because she knows the girl is terrified of her.” The doors opened and Nicole moved quickly to vacate the elevator to make room for the others that were waiting to ride it up.

She waited for Waverly to follow behind her and once she caught up they both turned and slowly started to walk side by side down the corridor of the hotel toward the doors that led to the courtyard “I got annoyed because Wynonna thinks she’s some kind of knight in shining armor who saved me from getting beat up. She kept trying to tease me about how I’m a crap fighter and how I’m lucky she had my back. It was annoying.”

Waverly nodded to show she was listening. She knew that her sister and Nicole had a shaky relationship. Even if they had started to really get along on the ice that did not mean everything off the ice was peachy keen. They were two very different people and yet they were very similar as well. She hoped one day they would realize that and be able to put aside their differences to become actual friends.

“She wouldn’t shut up so I yelled at her for being a bully” Nicole continued when she realized that Waverly wasn’t going to interrupt. She looked at her feet as they walked and after a moment she stopped. She drew in a deep breath because she was kind of ashamed about what she was going to say next. She looked up at Waverly who had stopped with her and a frown came over her lips “I kind of told her to stop picking on everyone as a way to distract herself from her shitty life.”

“Oh, Nicole” Waverly frowned and her head shook slightly. She glanced up at the hotel as if she was glancing at her sister before her eyes returned to Nicole. She let out a soft sigh at that “That was the worst thing you could have said.”

“I know!” Nicole threw her hands to the side in a weak shrug of defeat. “But I was pissed and she wouldn’t shut up.”

Waverly nodded at Nicole and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at her very gently, almost with pity, and gave her head a shake “You are trying so hard to get her to like you and I know that’s important to you.” She moved her hand off Nicole and put it to her own heart “It’s important to me, too. But, Nicole…” She sighed and motioned behind them to the hotel and shrugged “She’s not going to change overnight just to be friends with someone. Not the way you want her to. So you have to put up with her teasing and her sarcasm if you really want her to trust you.”

“She can’t just treat people like shit and shrug it off when they get pissed about it” Nicole huffed out and motioned behind herself toward the hotel. “I don’t care if it’s just who she is, okay? I haven’t done anything wrong and I don’t deserve to be mocked by her.”

“If she’s teasing you it means she likes you” Waverly bit her lip and shrugged at her words. She knew it wasn’t right but it was the way her sister functioned. “It won’t always be like that. Once she knows you’re going to stick around she will soften up.”

“Waverly, I like you a lot” Nicole spoke softly as her hand reached out to gently run along the length of Wavely’s arm. Her eyes flickered up to her face and a soft smile came to her lips. She took a moment to just bask in the simple beauty that Waverly possessed. Then her smile faded and her hand dropped away. Her head gave a shake and she let out a heavy sigh “But your sister is making it impossible for me. She needs to stop treating me like this.”

“I’m going to talk to her” Waverly said with a nod of her head as her arms crossed over her chest. “Tonight at dinner after your game. I am going to sit her down and tell her about us and then explain that no matter how she feels it’s not gonna change the fact that we like each other.”

“I just said something terrible to her” Nicole sighed out with another motion toward the hotel. Though she hadn’t said the words plainly it was no secret that she had been referring to their dad beating Wynonna when she had yelled at her shitty life. “It’s probably going to take her the rest of the year to get over that. Now you want to add on the fact that I’ve been dating her little sister in secret?” She let out a puff of air through her nose and shook her head “She is never going to trust me.”

“Do you really think hiding this is going to make her trust you?” Waverly asked with a shrug. “The longer we keep it from her the more she’s going to be pissed.”

Nicole threw her hands up in defeat and let out a loud groan. She turned away from Waverly and put her hand to her face again. She pinched at the bridge of her nose and drew in a few long breaths, releasing them slowly, as she tried to process it all. This was a no win situation. She took a few moments to breathe before she finally turned back around to find Waverly watching her. She shrugged, holding her shoulders by her ears for a few long seconds, and shook her head “Waverly I am stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I need your sister to trust me. I need her to know I have her back on the ice as well as her well being in mind off the ice. But I know she will never, ever trust me if we tell her we’re dating. She will hate me. It will be worse than when I first got to the team. She will ignore me and probably light my car on fire and I wouldn’t surprised if she tried to Tonya Harding me one day!”

“Calm down” Waverly reached out to grab a hold of each of Nicole’s shoulders. She gave a slight shake to bring Nicole’s attention to her. When their eyes met she gave a single nod and drew in a slow breath. “Just take a few breaths.” She gave a few encouraging nods as if trying to get Nicole to breathe a few times. When Nicole did just that, Waverly smiled very gently and watched her carefully. After the third breath Waverly spoke again “So we wait. You focus on gaining her trust back after what you said to her about her shitty life.”

“I’m sorry about that” Nicole said quickly.

“Apologize to her. She’s going to brush it off and probably be a bitch to you but don’t let her push you away.” Waverly still spoke calmly. “In a few weeks we can tell her about us.” She gave a little shrug as her hands finally fell away from Nicole. “If she asks how long we will just fudge the timeline a little bit.” When she saw Nicole looking doubtful, because she was a terrible liar, Waverly quickly added “I’ll take the blame. Tell her I didn’t want to tell her. She will be less mad at me. It’s in her DNA. She is genetically incapable of holding a grudge against me.”

“I don’t like lying” Nicole mumbled with a soft sigh.

“Not lying” Waverly shook her head very seriously. “We will tell her the truth.” She shrugged her shoulders and then motioned to the hotel again since it was now their reference point when referring to Wynonna “I don’t want to tell her, honestly. Ever.” She bit her lip and looked back at Nicole looking almost guilty now. “I mean, I guess, not until she graduates. I know it’ll upset her and she will lecture me and then lose focus on hockey and…” She glanced at her feet now and gave a weak flick of her shoulders “...she cares so much about everything I do that I just wanted her Senior year to be worry-free so she could finish what she started and get into a good college.”

“You’re allowed to live your life the way you want” Nicole frowned as her heart flinched with pain for the girl that stood in front of her. She knew Waverly held a lot of guilt about everything Wynonna had been put through in order to protect her. But it wasn’t her fault and, even more so, it was not her responsibility. She knew family protected each other but sometimes she felt the Earp sisters were so blinded by that loyalty that they forgot there was an entire world out there to experience and that doing so was not a bad thing.

Waverly just shrugged the words away. Her eyes lifted and focused on Nicole now. She put a gentle smile on her lips as her hand reached up to touch lightly at Nicole’s cheek. “I don’t mind sacrificing now because I know it’s going to lead to complete freedom later on. I’m so used to it by now. It’s been like this for most of my life. Even when Momma and Willa were around Wynonna and I were always fighting side by side.” She nodded as her hand slowly moved off of Nicole’s cheek now and tucked some of her loose red strands of hair behind her ear. “I don’t mind living my life with Wynonna at the center of it because I know once we’re out of Purgatory I’ll be able to be my own person. I don’t want to do anything to ruin that chance and if that means we don’t tell Wynonna…” She shrugged again and dropped her hand away from Nicole completely now “Then we don’t tell her.”

“I don’t know if I can do that” Nicole’s brows creased together as she frowned. “I’m not going to hide it from her just because I’m afraid she will hate me.”

“But I am” Waverly said firmly. Her eyes locked with Nicole’s and her gaze showed just how serious her words were. “I’m not ready for her to know, okay? So if that’s not good enough for you…” She trailed off and took a step back from Nicole now.

“Waverly, wait” Nicole’s face turned from a frown of disappointment to a look of sadness. She looked the girl up and down as if trying to find the meaning of the words she had just spoken. When she didn’t see that her head gave a shake “I didn’t say that wasn’t good enough for-”

“Haught!”

Nicole closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath. Of course this moment would be interrupted. Of course it would be Wynonna who interrupted it. She whirled around and when her eyes opened they were filled with rage. “What do you want?”

“Nedley called us in for a quick skate before tonight’s game” Wynonna motioned over her shoulder toward the hotel. She could see that Nicole was still mad and figured it was from their argument earlier. Not that she cared. Nicole had been just as big of a bitch to her so she was still mad, too. 

Nicole threw her left hand out to the side in a gesture of complete frustration. She then turned and looked back at Waverly. Her anger faded and was once more taken over by sadness. Her eyes softened and she spoke very quietly “We will talk about this later. Please?”

“Fine” Waverly said with a shrug as her arms folded over her chest again.

“Get your ass moving” Wynonna called out again.

Nicole growled and turned back toward the hotel. She stormed passed Wynonna and gave her a scowl as she did so.

“Be on the bus in five minutes” Wynonna called out as Nicole disappeared into the building. She rolled her eyes at the girl before turning around to see her sister walking up to her. Her face softened just a bit and she even smiled slightly “You gotta come too. We have a lot of equipment to manage.” She slid her arm around Waverly’s shoulders as she drew even then turned and walked alongside her.

“Leave me alone” Waverly mumbled and shrugged her way out of Wynonna’s arm. She sped up her steps and headed directly for the bus. She had yet to make it to the hotel room so she still had her backpack on her. All the equipment was still on the bus so she didn’t have anything to do until they got to the practice rink.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Wynonna asked with a surprised huff when Waverly shrugged away from her. When she got no answer from her sister she let out a sigh and threw her hands up in a surrendering shrug. “Well, shit. I’m just on a roll today, aren’t I? The only person I haven’t pissed off is Nedley.” She shook her head at that and followed Waverly to the bus. 

She had a feeling this weekend was going to continue to be like this until she figured out what it was she did to piss off her sister. She could handle everyone in the world being mad at her except for Waverly. When Waverly was mad at her it threw off her entire balance. Nothing was right when Waverly was pissed. So she would do what she could to make it right before the game that night. She knew if she tried to play while Waverly was pissed she would have a terrible game and now was not the time for a terrible game. She hadn’t told Waverly yet but there were quite a few college scouts at the tournament. She needed to be extra sharp so she could really make an impression. Their future depended on it.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Wynonna had not gotten a chance to talk to Waverly before the game. She had been pulled aside by Nedley to have a meeting with him, the other coaches, and Nicole in order to go over the game plan for the night. After that it was time to start getting dressed and warmed up for the game. Waverly was busy preparing equipment, cleaning water bottles, getting ice, filling the jugs of water for the girls to from drink during the game, and various other tasks. It was fine by her. If she kept busy she would not have to talk to neither Nicole nor her sister. She needed time to think anyway.

Nicole and Wynonna hadn’t talked to each other before the game. They were both still upset in their own right. The fact that they were upset was very obvious once the game started. They weren’t in sync at all. They weren’t communicating. They weren’t passing to one another. Nothing was going right for them and it was affecting the rest of their team.

They were luckily still in the game as the third period started. It was tied with one goal a piece. It was fortunate that the other team they were playing didn’t have any strong goal scorers. The other team, Nicole’s old high school, lost their best scorer when she moved away and it was becoming increasingly obvious why the whole team had shut her out. She had left a huge hole and they were struggling to find a way to replace her.

Nicole didn’t care. She was so over caring what everyone else thought of her. She just wanted to get this game over with and see if she could talk Nedley into letting her switch rooms. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of the weekend surrounded by one Earp sister who hated her and the other who she was convinced was trying to dump her. This roadtrip had gone wrong so quickly that she was having a hard time focusing on anything else.

It was the middle of the third period now and she had just hopped over the wall and sat on the bench at the end of one of her shifts. She turned her head to the right and as soon as Wynonna sat down she reached out and shoved her “Would it kill you to hit someone out there? They’re coming after me and you’re letting them!”

“I thought you didn’t need me to fight your battles for you” Wynonna said with a shrug before squirting some water into her mouth from one of the bottles hanging in front of their bench.

“You’re infuriating” Nicole barked then turned to her left. She saw Nedley watching them and she quickly motioned with her huge gloved hand “Earp’s hanging me out to dry!”

“Then lay a hit yourself” Nedley shrugged at his words. He could tell the girls were fighting but he wasn’t going to take sides. They needed to get over it and finish the game. “Hey, listen up. The next time the first line goes out I want to see crisp passes. They are leaving the middle of the ice early to try and jump on our sloppy pucks.” He leaned forward now with his dry erase board and started to draw up a play. He pointed at each person as he assigned them a spot and went over what he expected them all to do the next time they were on the ice together.

When the first line was up again Nicole quickly hopped over the boards and replaced the person coming off in her position. She quickly sped off to her spot on the ice, tracking the puck as it moved, ready to make a defensive play if necessary. As the rest of her line came onto the ice, Wynonna included, they all settled in to defend the puck and it looked like they might actually be on the same page for the first time all night.

They managed to defend their end of the ice and clear the puck out. Nicole skated forward with it and controlled it for a moment. The rest of the players skated passed her and she backed up as she scanned the ice and waited for everyone to set up in their positions so they could run the plays they had been told to run. Once everyone was set she skated forward.

She passed the puck away and that was the start of the play. There were a few passes and eventually they were in their offensive side of the ice trying to score. The passes definitely looked better and everyone was doing the right things. It was the most organized they had looked all night.

Unfortunately after a few shot attempts the other team got control of the puck and it was time for Nicole’s line to skate off the ice and swap with other players. She was nearly to the bench when she heard the unmistakable sound of two bodies crashing into the boards with more force than necessary.

She could tell by the reaction from the crowd that the hit had been dirty. Her stomach sank and her entire body went cold before she even turned around. The referees had already blown play dead because one of the players was down on the ice and not moving.

As soon as Nicole turned around her heart jumped into her throat. She saw Meg skating slowly backwards away from the crumpled body. She knew immediately it was Wynonna down on the ice. Something inside her snapped and without even thinking about it she took off full speed at Meg. It was like her primal fight or flight response had been triggered and it was telling her to fight.

She tossed her gloves off with one swift flick of her hands and as soon as she was within arm’s reach of Meg she swung her right fist forward. It connected right to the back of her helmet and threw Meg off balance forward. She somehow caught herself and whirled around in a circle. As soon as she found herself facing Nicole her fist were up and swinging at her in retaliation.

Somehow Nicole managed to dodge the first incoming punch. By now the crowd realized Nicole was getting revenge for her fallen teammate and they were all going wild. There was nothing like a fight to spark life into a hockey crowd. Nicole barely heard a thing. Her eyes focused in on Meg and it was like an animal took over. Her arms swung one after another and she connected on punch after punch.

Meg had no other line of defense but to wrap her arm around Nicole and try to pull her to the ice. Whenever two players hit the ice that was the end of the fight. Meg was getting pummeled, rightfully so, and was trying desperately to get down to the ice so the refs could pull them apart.

Nicole somehow found the strength to fight off Meg’s attempt to fall. She held the front of her jersey tightly with her left hand and used her right hand to land blow after blow. She had knocked Meg’s helmet off within two punches and now had free access to her head. Each time her fist landed it found a new place to bruise. Left eye, left chin, top of her head, left ear. Her punches were landing so fast there was hardly a place on Meg’s face that hadn’t been hit.

Finally one of the linesman jumped in and hooked an arm around Nicole’s from behind, effectively stopping the beating, and he managed to pull her free. He detained her from behind, yelling at her to calm down, as he pulled her away from the bloody girl.

A whistle blew and the head referee was signally that Nicole had been ejected from the game. The whistle was the only thing that managed to bring Nicole back to herself. As she was being escorted off the ice she turned and pointed now to where the medical staff was still on the ice “Is she going to be okay?”

She wasn’t answered. Instead Doc grabbed her once the linesmen got her to the bench and he quickly pulled her down the corridor that led to the back of the rink. Once a player was ejected they had to spend the rest of the game in the locker room. Nicole was struggling against Doc the entire time but he managed to drag her all the way down the corridor until they reached the locker room doors.

“Go sit down and cool off, Haught” Doc barked as he pointed to the door.

“What about-”

“Sit!” He yelled firmly now as to leave no more room for discussion.

Nicole stared at him in disbelief for a moment before finally letting out a grunt. She took off her helmet and turned around toward the locker room. She kicked the swinging door open with her skate and stormed in. As soon as she was inside she threw her helmet across the room. She moved to the corner of the room where there was a tv hanging and quickly turned it on. There on the screen the announcers of the game, two teenagers from the local high school that was hosting the tournament, said that they had just taken the injured player off the ice and back to the medical room for further examination.

Nicole’s heart sank. She stared at the tv in shock. She could not believe she had let that happen. She should have put Meg in her place sooner. She should have been a better teammate. Now she had to wait and see if her bitter old teammate had potentially ended Wynonna’s season and any chance she might have had of getting a college scholarship.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	13. #13 - Pavel Datsyuk

Nicole paced the locker room as she watched the rest of the game play out on the small tv in the corner of the room. She had taken off her shoulder and chest pads but still had on her hip and thigh pads. She had put a tshirt on over her undershirt and taken off her skates but that was about it. There hadn’t been much time left in the game when she had gotten ejected but it had felt like forever as she watched the clock tick down. As soon as she heard the final horn she rushed over to the door of the locker room. She knew her teammates would be coming in soon. More importantly she knew the coaches would be coming in soon.

As soon as the door was pushed opened Nicole stepped to the side and let her teammates in. They had ended up winning the game and were giving each other high fives. Nicole congratulated a few of them but her focus was elsewhere. As the last player filed into the room she stepped out of the door and looked around. She saw Nedley coming down the corridor and she rushed over to him quickly “Any news?”

Nedley stopped in his tracks because, well, Nicole had blocked him. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head as his hand reached out and he gently placed it on her shoulder “She’s in medical right now. If I let you go over there you gotta promise to behave. Listen to the trainers and don’t get in the way.”

“Of course!” Nicole turned and attempted to run off. She was stopped by Nedley grabbing the back of her shirt and tugging just firmly enough to prevent her from leaving. When she turned back to look at him she perked an eyebrow at him curiously.

“You did the right thing, defending her like that, but you went too far and what’s why you were ejected” His tone was soft and even. It was easy to tell he wasn’t mad. Just slightly disappointed in her behavior.

“I know” Nicole said very quickly. “I don’t know what came over me. It was like I wasn’t in control of myself.”

Nedley gave a single nod and let go of her shirt now. He offered just a twitch of a smile “We will work on that. Now go.”

Nicole didn’t wait another second. She turned and sprinted down the hallway toward where she knew the medical offices were. The rink they were playing at was state of the art. It was one of the best rinks in the country and they hosted a variety of hockey tournaments throughout the year. She had been there a few times before and knew exactly where she was going. She just had to find which office they would be in.

As she rounded a corner her bare feet gripped the tile beneath her and she felt herself picking up speed. It was probably not a great idea to be running around barefoot with all the disgusting athletes that walked the hallways but the risk of athlete’s foot was worth it to find out how Wynonna was doing. Each step caused a slap to echo through the fairly bare hallways. She knew she was getting closer because the general public was not allowed in this area of the rink and that’s why it was so quiet.

She reached one last corner and brought herself to a stop against the wall across from her since she could not slide around the corner in her bare feet. She blinked just once and drew in a deep breath to try and steady her breathing. She had just sprinted at full speed so it was going to take a moment for her to catch her breath. She tried to do so without detection as she slowly walked up to where Waverly was sitting on a chair outside one of the rooms.

“Any word?” Nicole said very softly so as not to scare the girl who had her back to her.

Waverly turned around quickly and when she realized who was there she immediately got to her feet. She didn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Nicole and pull herself into her embrace. She let out a soft sniffle as her face buried against Nicole’s shoulder. Her head shook and after a moment of standing there in Nicole’s arms she pulled back just enough to look up at her “I can’t believe you got in a fight.”

Nicole let out a surprised sounding laugh but nodded at the words. Her arms had wrapped around Waverly without hesitation when the girl had reached for her and now she lifted one of her hands up to brush back some of Waverly’s messy bangs. She could see that the girl had been crying and she immediately felt her gut twist with worry “Is she okay?”

“Yeah” Waverly could see the worry painted all over Nicole’s face and she quickly nodded to reassure her. “Oh, sorry, I cry very easily…” She motioned to her face and let out a very soft laugh. “I saw her go down and almost instantly started to cry.”

“It’s okay” Nicole said with a little shrug as the corners of her mouth flickered into a quick smile. She drew in a deep breath to calm the butterflies she could feel rising in her throat at just the sight of Waverly in her arms. She had been terrified that the girl was going to break up with her but that didn’t seem to be the case. At least not at the moment.

“Wynonna’s fine” Waverly got back on track as she finally stepped away from Nicole. She motioned to the door that she was sitting by and shrugged. “They say the hit just took the wind out of her but they are running a few tests just to be sure.” She lifted a hand to the side and gave a sort of dismissive flick “Safety first.”

“Right” Nicole nodded and glanced at the door. She had been on the other side of many a similar type door. They were probably going through a concussion screening test as well as a few other general injury tests. They wanted to make sure there was nothing broken or injured below the surface. Those could be some of the most dangerous injuries in sports. The ones where you looked alright on the outside but had something terribly wrong on the inside.

“Anyway” Waverly pushed her hand through her hair and motioned to the seat. “You wanna wait with me?”

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked now a little suddenly. It was such a habit for her to put other people first. She wanted to make sure the people she cared about were taken care of at all times. Maybe it was a little annoying but it is who she is as a person and she wouldn’t change it.

“Just a little worried” Waverly breathed the words out with another shrug. “But I’m used to it, too, if that makes sense. She’s played for so long that I think I’m a little numb to how dangerous it can be until something like this happens.”

Nicole nodded again as her eyes moved to the door. She thought about it for a moment and wondered just how many times Waverly had been made to wait to hear whether her sister was going to be okay. It wasn’t fair that Waverly had given up so much to cater to her sister. But then again it was her choice. She let out a sigh as their earlier conversation came to mind. A frown took over her features as she let her eyes focus back on the girl “I’m sorry about earlier. I start to panic sometimes when things aren’t going my way. I need to work on that.”

“You are very Type A” Waverly agreed with a bit of a nod and a smirk.

Nicole laughed very softly but did not argue. She had always had the luxury of getting her way. Her parents were rich and she was nice. People just kind of seemed happy to oblige her wishes and, as far as hockey was concerned, some people bent over backwards to do whatever she wanted. She was kind of spoiled and she realized it in that very moment. She frowned at the thought. She would have to start to compromise if she was going to make this work with Waverly. She wanted nothing more than to make this work.

She bit her lip timidly now and brought her eyes back to Waverly. She was almost scared to ask the question lingering in her mind but she knew that she had to. The last thing she wanted was more uncertainty in her life. So she cleared her throat and spoke weakly “Are we okay? Because earlier it seemed like you were deciding that this is all too much for you.”

“It’s not” Waverly shook her head quickly. She moved back into Nicole’s embrace, sliding her arms around the girl as she moved, and lifted onto her toes. Her hand reached up to the back of Nicole’s head and without a moment of hesitation she brought her lips up as her hand pulled Nicole’s head down, bringing their lips together. 

Nicole was a little surprised by the kiss but she did not give a single second of pause before returning it. She felt her entire body warm with a sensation that was a mix of relief and comfort as their lips pressed together. The kiss was gentle yet hungry. There was a sense of deep passion and yearning that rose more as each second passed. The longer their lips and tongues tangled the more Nicole felt herself starting to lose control of herself. Her hands slid down along the length of Waverly’s back until they reached her hips. She gripped there lightly and pulled, drawing their bodies closer, wanting to eliminate any space between them. She needed to feel close to her. She needed to feel every inch of Waverly pressed to every inch of herself so that, hopefully, the girl would be able to sense just how deeply Nicole cared for her.

There was a soft clearing of a throat nearby and that snapped Nicole out of the bubble they had slipped into during the kiss. She broke away and turned her head only to find Doc standing at the doorway of the room that held Wynonna. She immediately blushed and stepped back from Waverly slightly.

Doc perked an eyebrow and looked the girls over for a moment. It was easy to see he had been surprised by what he had just walked in on. He then brought his eyes back up and focused on Waverly. He gave her a slight nod and stepped to the side “You can go in now, ladies.”

Waverly drew in a deep breath and reached for Nicole’s hand. She took it when it was offered without hesitation and gave a single nod at Doc “Thank you.”

The girls shared a look, almost silently reassuring each other they were going to walk in there and it was going to be alright, before Waverly moved toward the door and pushed it open.

As soon as they stepped inside they were greeted with a smiling Wynonna who was sitting up on the exam table. Her pads, helmet, and gloves had been removed and were piled near the wall next to the table. She was dressed only in the tight spandex shirt and pants that she wore under her hockey jersey but she didn’t seem to care. She lit right up when she saw her sister come into the room “Waves! Did you see that? I can’t believe that cow laid me out.”

“Are you alright?” Waverly asked as she rushed over to the table and immediately wrapped her arms around her sister. She was so grateful Wynonna seemed okay that she started to cry as soon as she was pulled into the hug.

“Totally cool” Wynonna looked down at the top of her sister’s head that was buried against her shoulder. She let out a soft sigh and gently rubbed soothing strokes along Waverly’s back now that she could tell the girl was crying. “Seriously, Waves, I’ve taken much worse. I just got the wind knocked out of me for a few seconds.”

“Promise?” Waverly pulled back and quickly wiped a few tears from her eyes as she focused her gaze on her sister seriously. “Because if you’re injured and try to play and make it worse…” She trailed off and just shook her head a few times. 

“They wouldn’t let me play if I were injured” Wynonna said softly, motioning toward the door to indicate the trainers and medical staff that had just left the room moments ago. “That’s why they had me in here. Had to make sure everything was working.”

Waverly gave a single nod and stepped away now that she had affirmation that her sister was okay. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand then motioned to Wynonna weakly “Just promise you’ll speak up if something hurts.”

Wynonna waved the notion off and hopped down from the table now. She turned and as soon as her eyes landed on Nicole a huge smirk came over her features. She moved over to her and lifted her hand to indicate she was offering a high five “Haught! I can’t believe you clobbered the shit out of her! Where did that come from?”

Nicole, a little surprised by the sudden attention and praise, just laughed and swung her hand out to receive the high five. She then shrugged and reached her hand to the back of her head to pull at the short strands of hair at the back of her neck “I didn’t see the hit but I heard it. As soon as I knew you were down it was like something inside me took over. I knew I had to retaliate.”

Wynonna’s face softened a bit as her eyes met Nicole’s. Though she still held a small smile it was clear to see on her face that she was being more serious now and when she spoke her tone matched “Thanks, man. It meant a lot to me and it really showed where your loyalty lies.” She dropped her eyes now because all of this seriousness was too much for her but she needed Nicole to know that it meant a lot to her.

“Of course” Nicole said softly because, well, she was surprised by the seriousness she was getting from Wynonna. The girl was never serious about anything. Even when it came to hockey she was always joking and trash talking. So to get a direct statement of gratitude from the girl was definitely a shock. But she wouldn’t dwell on it. She just accepted it and gave Wynonna a very sincere smile when she looked up at her again “It’s what friends are for.”

“Friends?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow at that. She eyed Nicole carefully, almost suspiciously, as if she was trying to decide if there was some sort of hidden agenda behind her words. Then she remembered Waverly telling her that Nicole was a genuinely nice person. That mixed with how Nicole had gone to bat for her on the ice came together and somehow managed to lower Wynonna’s defenses just enough. She gave Nicole a flicker of a smile and a single nod “I like the sound of that.”

The sheer joy that filled Nicole in that moment was almost overwhelming. Her face lit up with a wide smile and she wanted to laugh out in relief that Wynonna Earp now considered her a friend. But she knew that wasn’t Wynonna’s style so she contained it. Instead she just gave a nod and once more swung her hand out for a high five “Cool.”

“Cool” Wynonna repeated and slapped her hand against Nicole’s. They shared a brief smile before it was again too much for Wynonna and she looked away. Her eyes focused on Waverly and she gave her sister a little sideways nod “You wanna get out of here, kid?”

“I’d love to” Waverly said with a smile before it dropped away and she let out a sigh “But I have to pack up all the gear and put it back on the bus.” She rolled her eyes and motioned to her sister now “Thanks to you deciding I should be equipment manager this weekend.”

“Shit, my bad” Wynonna’s nose crinkled for just a moment and she looked genuinely apologetic. It only lasted a second before she shrugged now and motioned to the door of the room “How about we help you pack up? That way we can get on the bus faster and get back to the hotel sooner. I’m starving.”

“Totally” Nicole agreed with a quick nod as the girls started out of the room. “We still have to change anyway…” She motioned to herself still in half her pads and Wynonna in basically nothing but a thin layer of material.

“Waverly, aren’t you forgetting something?” Wynonna paused now just outside the room. When her sister looked at her curiously she returned the look with a mischievous smirk as she motioned back into the room they had just come out of “My equipment.”

Waverly’s jaw dropped as her eyes fell back into the room and onto the pile of Wynonna’s discarded pads. She looked back at her sister in total offense “I can’t believe you just asked me to carry your pads! Get them yourself!”

“Sorry I can’t. I’m injured!” Wynonna called as she turned and started to run away down the hallway with a cackle filling the quiet hallway as she went.

Waverly gasped as her sister sprinted away. She should not be surprised by the shenanigans of her sister and yet she still was. Her head shook and she coughed out a huff of disbelief “She is infuriating.”

Nicole let out a very soft laugh and motioned to where Wynonna had disappeared “It was kind of funny.”

“I don’t need you encouraging her” Waverly growled as she went back into the room to get Wynonna’s gear. 

“Did you hear what she said?” Nicole asked with a smile as she followed Waverly and without hesitating bent over to scoop up the heaviest pieces of pads. “We’re friends now. Like she agreed that we have reached that level. That’s pretty big, right?”

“Actually…” Waverly scooped up the gloves and helmet since Nicole had picked up everything else. She looked up at Nicole and a very soft smile came to her lips “Yeah. That’s huge. Wynonna doesn’t like a lot of people and she definitely doesn’t trust any of them. So the fact that she said you’re friends means a lot.”

Nicole nodded in quick agreement as they left the room again now that they had all of Wynonna’s stuff. She was smiling widely at the thought. They had come a long way. They went from hating each other and Wynonna making Nicole’s life miserable to them being good teammates to now being friends? It was crazy to think. She could have only dreamed that they would make it through the season in one piece but now it seemed they might actually have some fun along the way. 

“I should put it in my article” Waverly said softly since a silence had fallen between them as they walked side by side. She smiled at the thought and glanced up to Nicole “That would be an incredible twist. Two enemies put their differences aside to become friends.”

Nicole let out a soft laugh and nodded just once. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it all. Wynonna Earp was her friend. It seemed unreal. It was almost too good to be true. She had a feeling that things would start to change for the better now. She was excited to see how the rest of the season, and the school year, would play out with her girlfriend on one hand and her friend on the other.

Then it hit her. The only friend she had was also her girlfriend’s sister. Her heart sank. This was only going to make things even more terrible when Wynonna found out. Suddenly the idea of losing Wynonna’s friendship sounded like the worst possible thing that could happen to her.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Nicole had been lost inside her own thoughts for most of the trip back to their hotel. She hadn’t really said anything as she helped Waverly and Wynonna with the equipment. Even when she was met with a round of applause by her teammates in response to the fight on the ice she didn’t really react. She just smiled shyly than sat by herself. Her mind was racing with worry now. Wynonna trusted her enough to be her friend and she knew without a doubt that finding out she was dating Waverly would cause irreparable damage to that trust.

When they got back to the hotel Nicole went straight to their room. The rest of the girls lingered in the lobby trying to decide what they were going to eat but Nicole was not feeling social. She felt sick, honestly. She couldn’t stop spiraling down the rabbit hole of despair. She had no idea how to proceed so she removed herself from everyone and thought maybe some alone time would help her think.

Twenty minutes of alone time in her room had not yielded anything but more worry. There was no way out of this situation that ended well for her. She either told Wynonna and lost her friendship with her forever or she broke up with Waverly and lost the only girl she had ever had any sort of actual feelings for. She liked neither of those solutions. So she just laid on the bed letting the dread of her life fill her completely. What else could she do?

Her heart jumped when she suddenly heard the sound of the door being opened. She sat up quickly and looked like a deer caught in headlights as she stared at the door. She was not ready for this. She was not sure she could be in the same room as Wynonna and act normal. Not yet. She needed more time.

“There you are” Waverly sighed very softly when she slipped into the room and noticed that Nicole was awake. She took a few slow steps into the room and eyed the girl up and down carefully as if looking for signs of caution from her. Biting her lip nervously she spoke very timidly once she found nothing visibly wrong with Nicole “Are you okay? You hardly said a word on the bus and then you just disappeared when we got to the hotel.”

Nicole immediately felt guilty for having made Waverly worry. She could see the girl standing stiffly just out of arm’s reach from her as if she were afraid to approach her. That twisted her gut into a knot. She let out a heavy sigh and her head gave a shake as she patted her hand next to where she sat on her bed “I don’t think I’m okay.”

Waverly was at least relieved to see that Nicole was not trying to push her away but instead inviting her to sit beside her. So she moved slowly and sat carefully on the mattress next to her. She bit her lip and once more eyed Nicole very carefully. She could see by her slouched posture and downturned eyes that she was upset about something. She reached out and gently put a hand on her shoulder as she spoke “Talk to me.”

Nicole took in a deep breath as if she were preparing to unleash a long ramble. Nothing came out. Instead she just shrugged and shook her head as she exhaled all the air she had drawn in. She glanced at Waverly with a crooked frown and used her right hand to brush some loose bangs off her face “I feel stuck, Waves.”

“Oh my god” Waverly frowned as soon as she saw Nicole’s hand move across her face. She saw cuts and scrapes on Nicole’s knuckles that had been caused by her punching the hard plastic parts of Meg’s helmet before it fell off in the fight. She reached out and grabbed the hand, pulling it closer so she could inspect it, before shaking her head “Why didn’t you get this looked at before?”

“I…” Nicole looked really confused when Waverly’s attention was suddenly on her hand. She shook her head as she eyed the scratches then looked back up at Waverly with a shrug “It’s fine. I don’t know. It doesn’t hurt. I had- where are you going?”

Waverly had gotten off the bed suddenly. She rushed over to the closet that held her bag and immediately started to dig through it. It didn’t take long before she found what she needed and was quickly returning to the bed. She smiled down at Nicole as she sat back beside her and reached for her hand “You know I never leave home without a first aid kit.”

“Waverly, I’m trying to-” Nicole grunted when Waverly gripped her wrist tight enough to keep her from pulling it free. She looked at her with surprise and again shook her head “You just told me to talk to you and now you’re distracted by a few cuts on my hand?”

“I’m listening” Waverly looked up from what she was doing and gave Nicole a very serious look. She let her eyes lock in a very firm gaze for a few moments. She gave a single nod then finally looked back to the hand on her lap before pulling a few things out of her first aid kit that sat on the mattress to her right.

Nicole’s eyes fell to her hand now as Waverly started to gently wipe some of the dried blood off her knuckles. She honestly hadn’t even noticed her hand had been bleeding. It couldn’t have been that bad because no one else noticed either. She smiled very slightly at that. Of course Waverly would notice. She was so good at noticing the little things. It was one of the many things Nicole liked about the girl. At that thought she frowned. She liked Waverly so much that the idea of all of this falling apart made her want to die. Maybe she was just a hormonal teenager but this literally felt like the end of the world.

“Well?” Waverly glanced up from what she was doing and offered Nicole a smile when their eyes met. It was a gentle smile. It was a patient smile. Her eyes were soft as they looked at her with gentle anticipation. She was ready to hear every word that Nicole said and it showed on her face.

Nicole nearly melted at the look Waverly gave her. God she was the most beautiful woman on earth. So how in the world were they going to get through this? There was no easy answer. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before she finally spoke “I think- OUCH” She howled in pain when Waverly poured a little hydrogen peroxide on her cuts and they immediately started to sting.

“Sorry! I should have warned you! I just didn’t want to interrupt!” Waverly quickly leaned down and blew on the cuts knowing it would help with the sting.

“I think we have to break up!” Nicole yelped out as her hand attempted to twitch out of Waverly’s grip but was stopped again by her surprisingly firm hold.

“Because I didn’t warn you?” Waverly looked up with panic immediately filling her face.

“What?” Nicole looked down at her hand and quickly realized the string of events that had just occurred. It was poor timing and even worse wording on her part. She quickly shook her head and looked back at Waverly with wide, panicked eyes “No, shit. I didn’t mean that!”

“What in the world did you mean to say instead?” Waverly just stared in confusion now because none of this made sense.

“I’m sorry…” Nicole pulled at her hand once more and when it was finally released she let out a sigh. She lifted it so she could inspect the still bubbling cuts on her knuckles. She sighed again and decided to let Waverly finish what she had started. She set her hand back on Waverly’s lap and shook her head “You surprised me and my words got all messed up. I didn’t mean that.”

“You have a very peculiar response to panic and pain” Waverly grumbled through a frown before hesitantly reaching back down to Nicole’s hand. 

“I just meant that I don’t know how this ends well” Nicole mumbled out quickly when she saw that Waverly seemed upset. Then she realized how bad that sounded and she closed her eyes. “Shit, I didn’t mean that. I just-”

“Take a breath” Waverly looked up and could see the anguish painted all over Nicole’s face as she tried to sort out her thoughts and words. She bit her lip to fight a smile. It wasn’t funny, at all, but she couldn’t help but find it adorably endearing. Nicole was so confident about who she was that it was kind of refreshing to see her unsettled. It meant she cared. At least Waverly thought as much. She could be wrong. She was still getting to know Nicole so she couldn’t pretend like she understood all of her idiosyncrasies.

Nicole nodded quickly and drew in a very long breath. She held it for a moment and tried to think about what she was trying to say. Her head was such a mess that it was hard trying to sort it all out for herself let alone trying to put it into words. But she would try. So she exhaled slowly and when she opened her eyes to once more see Waverly patiently awaiting her explanation she felt herself relax just a little. She bit her lip nervously and her head gave a little flick of a shake “I don’t know how we can continue to date without undoing all of the progress I’ve made with your sister.”

Waverly nodded just once as her eyes now fell to Nicole’s hand. It was a thought she had definitely been mulling over herself since getting on the bus earlier. She knew her sister would feel betrayed once she found out that Nicole and herself were dating. There was no question about that. The question was how did the two of them navigate going forward. After a moment of thought her eyes lifted back to Nicole and she lifted a single shoulder to her ear “I can talk to her.”

“She’s still not going to like it” Nicole breathed out the words in a sigh. 

“But maybe I can make her see that it’s pretty much none of her business” Waverly bit her lip and looked back to Nicole’s hand. She pulled a bandaid out now and started to stick it over the biggest cut.

“I am sure she will be totally understanding if you put it that way” Nicole rolled her eyes and snorted at the thought.

“I just mean…” Waverly shook her head but didn’t look up now as she focused on what she was doing “...She knows you and she trusts you now. If I remind her that you are a good person and you have never done anything behind her back to purposely upset her maybe she will take, like, a second to realize it’s not a bad thing.” Her eyes lifted now and she offered a very faint smile at Nicole “Maybe she will realize it has literally nothing to do with her. It just so happened that I’m her sister. You didn’t seek me out with malicious intentions...” She perked an eyebrow playfully now and suspiciously eyed Nicole “Did you?”

Nicole puffed out a laugh at the false suspicion from Waverly. She gave a single nod and tried to act serious “Oh, totally. You know how vindictive I am.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t have to know that part” Waverly waved it off with a laugh. Her smile dropped quickly and her tone turned serious once more as she applied the last bandaid “She has to know deep inside that you’re on our side or she would have never come around to the two of you being friends.” She lifted her eyes now that she was done and gave a single nod “I just need to remind her that you care about her just as much as I do.”

“I do” Nicole agreed softly but firmly. “I care so much that the thought of losing her friendship has been eating me up since the moment she agreed we were friends.”

“I know” Waverly lifted Nicole’s hand and gave it a very gentle kiss where one of the bandaids sat on the knuckle. She then smiled and slowly set the hand back down on Nicole’s lap. Her eyes never left Nicole’s gaze and she spoke with conviction in her tone now “Knowing how much you have cared about Wynonna, even before you knew she was my sister, is one of the reasons I am willing to fight for you. I always thought it would be Wynonna and I against the world, you know? But now…” The corners of her lips lifted into a slow smile now as she gave a single nod “...there’s one more person in that fight whether she likes it or not.”

Nicole couldn’t help herself. The sheer determination in Waverly’s words was overwhelming. She quickly scooped her newly bandaged hand around the back of Waverly’s head and pulled the girl toward her as her own head tilted down. Their lips crashed together with a new passion behind them that had yet to be unleashed. Hearing that Waverly was willing to fight for her touched something deep inside she hadn’t known existed until that very moment.

Waverly was surprised by the sudden kiss. What really caught her off guard, though, was the wave of passion that managed to surge through Nicole’s lips and into hers. It was breathtaking. Had she been standing she may of collapsed because her legs went weak. A soft moan of pleasure slipped between her lips as she tilted her head and returned the kiss. No one had ever made her feel the way Nicole did. She felt like the most important person in the world and she believed with all her heart that Nicole had been sent to her from some higher power. Because even if she wasn’t religious herself there was no other explanation as to how Nicole had swept in and changed her life forever.

The longer the kiss lasted the deeper it grew. More passion built, transferring back and forth between the two girls, gaining strength with each passing moment. Nicole’s heart was racing against her chest so hard it was making it almost impossible to breathe. So she held the kiss as long as she could until finally she was forced to break it only because she needed oxygen to live. When she pulled back a heavy sigh escaped her lips and she stared at Waverly with a new sense of adoration. This girl was the most important thing to her and she would do whatever it took it keep her in her life.

Waverly breathed out a dreamy sounding sigh as the kiss ended. Her hand lifted to her lips and she smiled behind her fingers as they grazed over the tingling that was left behind from the kiss. She fixed her eyes on Nicole and when the girl looked back at her she let out an almost shy breath of a laugh “That was intense.”

Nicole blushed now. For some reason the way Waverly suddenly looked so shy because of her actions made her feel bashful. She bit her lip and dropped her eyes away as a soft chuckle slipped from between her lips “I couldn’t help it.”

“Don’t apologize” Waverly said with another light laugh as her hand reached out to brush some of Nicole’s loose bangs behind her ear. “That might have been the best kiss I’ve ever received so there is absolutely nothing to apologize for.”

Nicole’s blush faded and she looked up at Waverly now. She still held a bit of a bashful look on her face but it quickly melted into a warmth of caring for the girl as she looked at her. She had never known anyone like Waverly. She had never felt anything close to what she felt for her. She had spent most of the day dreading losing her and now she knew that they would fight for each other. It was an odd feeling to believe in something so strongly when just moments earlier you were filled with uncertainty about it. But as she stared at Waverly she felt nothing but certainty growing stronger by the moment.

The moment ended when the sound of the door being unlocked suddenly filled the room. Nicole jumped up from her bed and quickly moved over to her bag because it was the closest thing she could find. She bent down and unzipped it right as the door was pushed open.

“Well there you two are” Wynonna huffed out in frustration when she kicked the door closed behind her. She eyed Waverly who was sitting on the bed packing up her first aid kit then glanced at Nicole who was digging in her bag before she shrugged “Either of you answer your damn phones?”

“I haven’t turned mine back on yet” Nicole mumbled as calmly as she could as she pulled her phone out of her bag and showed it to Wynonna with a shrug.

“I think mine’s charging?” Waverly offered and motioned vaguely in the direction of where her phone was plugged in. She then stood off the bed and gave her sister a little shrug “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Wynonna huffed indignantly as if that was the rudest thing Waverly could have asked her. She shook her head and put her hands on her hips as she watched her sister move “What’s up is that I have been trying to get a hold of you two since we got back to the hotel! The girls want to go out to eat and they want you guys to come with so we’ve been waiting until we could find you before we all walk across the street to that…” She motioned toward the window to indicate a place outside the hotel “....place. I think it’s Italian food.”

“I didn’t mean to disappear on you” Waverly said with a shrug as she put her first aid kit back into her bag. “I came up here to change clothes and I noticed Nicole’s hand…” She motioned to Nicole then shrugged “...we lost track of time.”

“Her hand?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow and looked at Nicole who was now sitting on the edge of her bed. “What’s wrong with your hand?”

“Guess I cut it up during the fight” Nicole shrugged as her hand lifted to show Wynonna the bandaging Waverly had done. “I still haven’t showered since the game so…” She motioned now to the bathroom and nodded “You should go eat without me. I don’t want to hold you guys up.”

“Noooo” Wynonna whined out now and moved toward where Nicole sat on the bed. She pouted out her lip as she looked down at the girl “You have to come. Everyone wants to talk about how you kicked Meg’s ass and embarrassed her.”

Nicole fought off a smile. She was usually celebrated for nice goals or great defensive stops on the ice. She was not used to being praised for fighting. It was a new feeling of pride. She quickly shook the smile off and looked at Wynonna with another shrug “I stink.”

“You are such a girl” Wynonna rolled her eyes then turned back to Waverly with a shrug “Hurry up and change and come with me.”

“I don’t really-”

“Just come!” Wynonna’s pout returned to her face. She even batted her eyes quickly to enhance the effect.

“Fine!” Waverly rolled her eyes and waved a hand in front of herself as if trying to brush away Wynonna’s antics. “I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.”

Wynonna gave a fist pump then turned and looked at Nicole “If you get bored after your shower come join us.”

Nicole just gave a little salute to indicate she had heard the request. She waited until Wynonna left the room and it fell silent again before her eyes fixed on Waverly. She let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders “She is going to hate me.”

“I’ll take care of it” Waverly shrugged as she pulled fresh clothes out of her bag now. “Wynonna has one very powerful weakness and it is me” She grinned slightly then let out a soft laugh. She then peeled off the shirt she wore and tossed it aside. She had to change quickly because if she didn’t Wynonna would complain the entire time. So she made quick work of getting out of what she had on.

Nicole’s eyes went wide as soon as Waverly shed her shirt. She quickly turned on the bed so her back was to the girl and her eyes were on the window. She sat there staring at the window with a stunned look on her face. Waverly had just started stripping off clothes without warning. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle seeing a girl changing. Her teammates changed around her every day in the locker room. It was the fact that she was very much attracted to the girl who had stripped off her shirt and even the slightest flash of extra skin sent a warmth of desire shooting through her.

Waverly hadn’t even noticed. She grew up changing around her sisters. Then she grew up changing around other girls in gym class and for cheerleading. She was not shy about her body, not really, and she hadn’t even thought twice about doing a quick change in front of Nicole. It wasn’t like she was going to be naked. Just a shirt and jeans swap and she was on her way. 

It wasn’t until she was zipping her clean pair of jeans up that she looked back at Nicole and noticed the girl had turned away. This immediately made her blush. For some reason realizing that Nicole had taken it upon herself to give the her privacy even if she had not asked for it made her suddenly bashful. She had nothing to hide but Nicole had decided not to look anyway. It was kind of chivalrous, in a way. She bit her lip and cleared her throat now as she moved to grab her shoes “You can look now.”

“I’m sorry, I just…” Nicole let out a defeated sigh and turned around cautiously. When she saw that Waverly was in fact dressed she tried to smile and motioned to the girl “You look cute.”

“You could have looked” Waverly said with a little laugh as she sat down to slide her shoes on. “I wouldn’t have thought you were being a perv or anything.”

“No, I know…” Nicole shook her head because that sounded wrong. She didn’t know that about Waverly. She sighed and took a breath before trying again. “I just mean that I didn’t wanna stare and make you uncomfortable. Not that I would have!” She lifted a hand quickly to stop herself from what she had just said. Panic was starting to raise on her face and in her voice again “I wouldn’t have meant to stare is what I mean. But…” She breathed out heavily and shook her head “I probably would have stared but only because I find you incredibly stunning and I wouldn’t have been able to look away. I mean I stare at you when you’re fully dressed so it wouldn’t have been just because you had your shirt off it would-”

“Breathe” Waverly laughed softly as an amused smile started to slowly take over her face. She took a few steps toward Nicole now that she had both shoes on. She gave the girl a nod and reached out to gently brush some of her still messy red hair off her eyes again. “I probably wouldn’t have even noticed that you were looking at me. But the fact that you turned around so you didn’t make me uncomfortable is one of the many things I adore about you, okay?” She leaned in now and gently placed a kiss to Nicole’s forehead before straightening up again. She bit her lip and carefully looked the girl’s face over, as if taking in every detail of her in that moment, before she nodded just once “I don’t mind when you stare.”

Nicole couldn’t help but blush again. There was no way to describe what Waverly did to her. It was a feeling that was completely foreign to her. She had never been so nervous around a girl. Her confidence had always been in charge and helped her in every interaction with any girl she had ever talked to. But now it seemed like Waverly had broken through the confident facade and exposed a deeper part of Nicole. The more genuine part of her. The part that could be completely and totally wrecked if this didn’t work out. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

“Hurry up and shower” Waverly decided to change the subject. She stepped back from Nicole and offered her a smile before moving to gather her phone from its charger. She glanced over her shoulder and gave a little nod before moving for the door now. “Join us for dessert, at least?”

“I’ll hurry” Nicole stood up like a shot now. She drew in a deep breath and realized her legs were a little shaky. That was the effect Waverly had on her.

“Good” Waverly smirked then reached for the door. She paused just before stepping out of the room and looked Nicole over once more. Her smirk grew as she nodded like she had just silently agreed with something. Her eyes lifted to find Nicole’s gaze and she spoke gently but firmly “I’d stare at you, too.” With her words she gave a wink then pulled the door closed behind her.

Nicole nearly fainted. Waverly had just admitted that she would willingly look at Nicole in any level of undressed. The thought sent a shiver through her spine. Now she was going to spend the entirety of her shower thinking about the two of them staring at each other slightly to fully naked. How in the Hell was she supposed to focus on anything else now?

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	14. #14 - Brendan Shanahan

The rest of the weekend flew right by with no other incident. Somehow Waverly and Nicole had managed to stay busy enough that them being together wasn’t too suspicious. Luckily the tournament had the teams playing every day as one final test before the regular season started so Nicole and Wynonna were distracted by that. Most days they were in bed right after dinner and up bright and early. Their free time was pretty non-existent which had been a good thing. It gave Waverly time to think about how she would bring up the subject of her and Nicole dating to Wynonna once they got back to Purgatory.

It was late Monday afternoon by the time the bus rolled back into the parking lot at the Purgatory High School ice rink. The team was exhausted and a lot of them were complaining that they had to go to school the next day and would probably have a lot of homework to catch up on. Wynonna, though, was in a surprisingly good mood. She hopped off the bus with a smile then turned around to wait for her sister and Nicole to get off as well.

As soon as she saw the two of them come down the steps she moved over and grabbed onto both of their arms. She pulled them to the side so they were out of the flow of the girls still coming off the bus. She gave them both a smile once she had their attention “So how about we do some pizza tonight and celebrate a successful trip?” She glanced back and forth between the two girls happily and gave a nod before either of them could disagree.

“What?” Waverly asked with a tired laugh as she adjusted her backpack over her shoulder. “Wynonna I have a ton of homework. I am going to swing by Jeremy’s to get it from him then start doing it as soon as we get back to the hotel.”

“Please, I know you don’t have that much. You’re ahead in all your classes” Wynonna waved the idea off with a shrug.

“He has your homework too” Waverly added with a roll of her eyes. “And you can’t fall behind.”

“I won’t” Wynonna let out a soft laugh and gave a quick shake of her head. “Come on! I am so pumped from the weekend and this is the first time I’ve come home from a road trip and not had to worry about…” She glanced around to make sure no one was listening then motioned a fist toward her face to indicate she was referring to the potential of a beating by her father. She smiled after her little charade and shrugged “I’m in such a good mood. Besides we just had a Hell of a tournament! I couldn’t focus on homework even if I wanted to.”

“I really think we should-”

“I’m in” Nicole said quickly and flashed a sideways look at Waverly. When she caught the surprised look from the girl she gave a little nod as if silently telling her that it might be a good idea to tell Wynonna about them tonight.

“Fine” Waverly gave in and let out a heavy sigh. “But we can’t be up too late.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Wynonna clapped her hand down against Nicole’s back and let out a soft laugh. “I knew if Haught agreed you’d be in, too.”

“I need to go home and shower” Nicole motioned with a nod toward her car before she looked between the two sisters. “I can pick up pizza on the way back to the hotel.” She perked an eyebrow as an idea came to her and she gave an almost shy shrug now “Or you two can come to my place?”

“Yeah?” Wynonna perked up excitedly at the idea. She imagined Nicole lived in a huge house. If her parents had enough money to pay for hotel stays for random people they probably had a massive house.

“No” Waverly shook her head quickly. She gave Nicole a sort of panicked glance then looked at her sister as she spoke in as steady of a tone as she could “We should just do it at the hotel. There are two of us that need to shower. By the time Nicole goes home and showers and comes to the hotel we will be done. We will all have to wait longer for food if the two of us go over there.”

“I have a guest bathroom” Nicole offered happily. Her tone soon faded though when she saw another sharp glare from Waverly. She shook her head just once and slowly brought her eyes back to Wynonna before giving a sheepish shrug “That I totally forgot needs repair. Sorry.”

Wynonna didn’t give it two thoughts. She waved Nicole off then shrugged at Waverly “Fine we can do it at the lame hotel.” She heard her name being called just then and when she looked up she saw Nedley was motioning to her huge bag of hockey gear that had just been pulled out of the space below the bus. She gave a nod and quickly left the other two girls where they stood so she could go grab her bag.

“Why are you being so weird about her coming over to my place?” Nicole whispered quickly as soon as Wynonna walked off.

“You want me to tell her we’re dating at your place?” Waverly motioned to Nicole with a flick of her hand then quickly flailed it out to the side. “There’s a high probability she will break something. Then she is going to have to drive home angry and I wouldn’t put it passed her to purposely run into a light post on my side of the car just to injury me as payback!”

“You’re being overdramatic” Nicole said with a roll of her eyes.

“Am I?” Waverly perked an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest firmly. She locked Nicole with a challenging gaze almost like she was daring her to disagree.

Nicole blinked at the way Waverly stared at her. A shiver slid down her spine. Somehow the way Waverly was looking at her sent a panic through her. Was Wynonna really capable of that sort of anger and vindictiveness? She shook her head to shake the idea away and let out a weak attempt at a laugh “Fine we can do it at the hotel.”

“Here you go” Wynonna grunted as she tossed Nicole’s hockey bag at her feet now as she returned. She smiled at the girls again the motioned with her head toward her own truck “Let’s get a move on. I’m already hungry and we all know what happens if I wait too long to eat.”

There was a nervous attempt at laughter from both Waverly and Nicole at the joke Wynonna had made. They shared an unsure glance as Nicole scooped up her bag and slid it over her shoulder. She then tried to smile and gave a nod to the sisters “I’ll see you two soon then.”

Wynonna lifted her hand in a half wave then looked at Waverly with a smile. When she saw her sister wasn’t exactly thrilled she let out a huff and rolled her eyes “We can stop by Jeremy’s on the way back to the hotel if you want. Will you please cheer up?”

Waverly put on a forced smile and nodded at her sister. When that seemed to placate Wynonna for the moment and she turned to head toward her truck, Waverly dropped the facade. She was so nervous about telling Wynonna. She didn’t wanna ruin her good mood. But she knew the longer they waited to tell her the more upset she would be. So it looked like tonight was the night whether she was ready for it or not.

~.~.~.~.~.

“Damn I thought you drowned in there” Wynonna chuckled once Waverly finally stepped out of the bathroom.

Waverly offered a weak smile as she moved toward the closet that had her clothes hanging up in it. She had a towel wrapped around her body and a second one around her head. She had taken an extra long shower to try and figure out how to approach the subject of herself and Nicole. She was just as empty handed as she had been when she went into the shower. There was no easy way to bring it up.

“That was Nicole” Wynonna motioned to her phone as she tossed it on the bed and went over to the mirror to finish brushing her hair. She had showered first and was now finishing drying her hair before Nicole arrived. “I had called her to remind her to pick up a vegan pizza and she already had one.” She glanced over at Waverly and offered her a smile “She’s really on top of shit. I would have forgotten.”

“Yeah she’s good like that” Waverly agreed as she stepped into a pair of pajamas bottoms before rifling through the closet again to find a shirt to sleep in.

“Yeah she’s good like that” Wynonna mocked Waverly’s tone then let out a laugh. She eyed her sister and after a moment of watching her she let out a sigh. She perked an eyebrow and set down the brush before turning to look at Waverly fully now “What’s up with you, kid? You’ve been quiet all day and as much as I like a little peace I also don’t like that my little sister isn’t being her…” She motioned with her hand at the entirety of Waverly to indicate her whole being before she shrugged “You seem down.”

Waverly half smiled as she slid a shirt over her head. Once it fell over her torso she unwrapped the towel from around her upper body and let it drop. She then turned around to look at Wynonna and gave her a shrug as she hung her towel up on a rack to dry. She then reached down and scooped up Wynonna’s discarded towels and hung them up as well. She was so used to cleaning up after her slob of a sister that it came as second nature now.

When Waverly didn’t say anything this really made Wynonna suspicious. She gave her head a little shake and she snapped her fingers now to try and get her sister’s attention. When Waverly finally looked up her she gave her another raised eyebrow “Seriously, what is your deal? Nicole is on her way over with a vegan pizza especially for you so if you don’t want her to come over I need to know before she gets here.”

“Of course I want her to come over” Waverly rolled her eyes as she pulled her hair out of the towel that was on her head. “She is not the problem. Well…” She shrugged and let out a soft sigh “I mean, she kind of is, but it’s not a problem. It’s more like a situation.”

Wynonna’s eyebrow somehow rose higher on her head. She stared at Waverly with confusion and anticipation and when nothing more came from her sister she let out a frustrated huff “What situation are you referring to? Did something happen? Because the last time I checked you two were all buddy buddy. I thought you’d enjoy hanging out with the two of us.”

“We are” Waverly held up her hand to stop Wynonna’s rant from continuing. She could see her sister was growing agitated and defensive. She drew in a deep breath when she caught Wynonna’s eyes and she gave her head a single shake “Nothing bad is going on. I promise.”

“Then what the Hell?” Wynonna let out another frustrated huff and folded her arms now. “Will you just tell me what’s going on because apparently it’s big enough that it’s eating at you and you know I’ll take your side if it comes down to it. So just let me know if I need to beat her up or something.”

Waverly rolled her eyes at that. She hung up the towel she had taken off her head and grabbed the brush that Wynonna had been using to now run it through her hair gently “Beating people up is not the solution to anything, Wynonna.” She let out a sigh and moved to sit on the edge of her bed now. She looked up at her sister with a nearly pleading look behind her eyes and when she spoke again her voice was weak “I have to tell you something and I am terrified because I know how you react. You react with your fists first instead of with your head, or you heart, and the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt.”

Waverly’s tone and the look in her eyes surprised Wynonna. She had never really seen her sister look so meek. Even when their father had been raging and yelling and making threats she had never seen Waverly look so scared. It nearly broke her heart. She immediately softened the slightly defensive stance she had taken and moved over toward the bed. She sat down next to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder “You don’t have to be afraid. You know you can tell me anything.”

“But will you listen?” Waverly asked with a sad shake of her head. “Wynonna I know your first instinct is to protect me but I’m afraid that if I tell you what I need to tell you that the only person I will need protection from is you.”

“Me?” Wynonna’s voice trembled just slightly. She felt her hand shake where it had come to rest against Waverly’s shoulder. She looked stunned at the words. “Babygirl you know I would never do anything to hurt you. Ever.”

“Promise?” Waverly asked almost timidly now. When she saw Wynonna open her mouth to speak she cut her off and added quickly “I mean it. You have to promise me, right here, that no matter what I tell you that you will stay calm. That you will not say or do anything that will hurt me. I know you would never hit me but I’m not talking just physical harm, okay?” She bit her lip now and turned to put her hand on her sister’s leg. She looked her straight in the eyes and gave a single nod “Promise me you’ll think about your actions before you do anything because your actions affect me too.”

Wynonna nodded just once. She took a moment to look at her sister, to take in the way she looked in that moment, before she made her promise. She wanted to promise that she would never hurt her sister but Waverly knew something she didn’t and she seemed to think it was something that would upset her enough for her to do something a little irrational. This terrified her. She knew that no one in the world knew her better than Waverly and if she was dreading her reaction than it must be bad. So she needed to take a moment to breathe. She needed a moment to tell herself that no matter what came out of her sister’s mouth she would stay calm. She was scared at what was coming but just seeing the way Waverly was pleading with her gave her the strength to believe that she could keep that promise.

Finally she let out a heavy sigh and when she spoke it was with the most sincerity she had ever used in her entire life. She looked Waverly right in the eyes and without pause she made her promise “I promise to stay calm no matter what. Now, please, tell me because you’ve got me in worst case scenario mode and I’m freaking out a little.”

Waverly gave a nod when Wynonna made her promise. She took a few moments to soak it in and really look at her sister to see if there were any signs that she might just be trying to placate her. When she could see that her sister was being genuine she let out a soft sigh. She cleared her throat and put a weak attempt at a smile on her lips. She moved her hands to take hold of both of Wynonna’s, bringing them down to rest between the two of them, before she gave one more nod. She drew in a deep breath to calm her nerves because this was it. This was the moment she had been dreading for weeks now. Everything would change after this. As she released the breath she locked her eyes with her sister’s and spoke firmly so there was no mistaking her words “Nicole and I are dating.”

Wynonna blinked once. She stared at her sister blankly for a few seconds before she blinked again. Then a smile slowly started to spread over her lips and she let out a quick laugh. She pulled her hands out of Waverly’s and her head gave a shake as her laugh grew now “Oh my God you really had me going! I thought there was some terrible shit coming my way! You built it up perfectly and I was really freaking out.” She shook her head in amusement now as a soft chuckle tumbled from her lips “Oh man, Waves, that was a good one. You got me! You finally pulled a fast one on me.”

Waverly blinked in confusion as she stared at her sister’s reaction. She had not expected laughter. Then she realized that Wynonna thought she was joking. This caused a loud sigh to slip from her lips as she reached out to take hold of her sister’s hand once more to pull her attention back. When Wynonna looked back at her she shook her head quickly “I’m not kidding, Wynonna. Nicole and I are dating. Like really dating. As in we go on dates and we kiss.”

“You’re funny” Wynonna laughed out softly as her eyes focused back on her sister. She just couldn’t believe what Waverly was saying. It was absurd! But when she saw the serious look behind her sister’s eyes her smile faded. Her heart jumped into her throat and panic started to fill her now. “Wait” She mumbled and her head started to shake quickly “You’re joking, right?”

“No” Waverly stated with a shake of her head. She bit her lip nervously as her eyes darted up and down her sister’s features. She was trying to read how she was feeling so she could prepare for her reaction. She held her hands up now slowly and gave a single nod “You promised to stay calm, remember?”

“You’re joking” The amusement that had been present in all of Wynonna’s being was now nowhere to be seen. She gave her head another shake and her voice was weak when she spoke again “Tell me you’re joking.”

“Wynonna” Waverly let out a sad sounding sigh and reached out to gently touch her sister’s arm. “I know it’s a lot to take in but just breathe for a few seconds.”

“I can not believe you!” Wynonna shouted and jumped up off the bed. She stared wide eyed down at her sister as her chest heaved with heavy breaths. She felt anger boiling within her. Her mind was racing. She could not wrap her head around what she had just learned.

“Calm down!” Waverly barked a little louder than she had meant to. She did not want to get in a shouting match with her sister. She wanted them both to remain calm. She gave her head a shake and stood up slowly “I know its a lot to take in but it’s not a bad thing! It’s good!” She smiled slightly now at the thought of how good dating Nicole actually was. She gave a nod at that thought and spoke gently “She’s a good person and she has been nothing but incredible to both of us.”

“Oh my god” Wynonna blinked and shook her head as if the fact that her sister was dating Nicole had just settled in. She stared at her sister in shock for a few long moments before she coughed out an angry laugh and narrowed her eyes into a glare “How long? How long have you two been plotting behind my back like this?”

“We aren’t plotting!” Waverly reached her hands out to rest on Wynonna’s shoulders. When her sister moved out of her touch she frowned and her tone was a little wounded when she spoke next. “It’s not a plot against you, Wynonna. It just kind of happened.” She folded her arms over her chest and gave her head a little shake “I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, sleeping with the enemy definitely hurts” Wynonna growled and turned her back on her sister. She stormed over to the door and started to frantically pull her coat over her arms.

“We’re not sleeping together” Waverly mumbled softly. She then shook that off because it didn’t matter. What mattered was stopping her sister from storming out. She hurried over to her and pulled at one of the sleeves of Wynonna’s coat so she couldn't put it on “Will you stop? Listen to me, Wynonna. Neither of us did this on purpose. She didn’t even know you were my sister when we met.”

Wynonna ripped the sleeve of her coat out of Waverly’s grip. She stuffed her arm into it fiercely and when she looked at her sister it was with a raging fire she had never felt before in her life. “Leave me alone” She growled before reaching for the doorknob of the hotel room. She nearly ripped the door off its hinges as she pulled it open. She was met with an immediate burst of icy wind but she barely noticed with the white hot rage that was surging through her.

“Wynonna, where are you-”

The door was slammed, cutting off Waverly, as Wynonna stormed away. She was so mad that she could barely focus. She was blinded and she was trying her hardest to calm herself down and keep the promise she had made to her sister but right now that seemed impossible. So she needed to step away and wrap her head around it. She wanted to try to understand what the Hell was going on because at the moment it seemed like she had just been betrayed by the only person in her life that had ever been completely on her side and that was the hardest thing to get her mind around at the moment.

Waverly knew that giving her sister some space was best at the moment. She also could see Wynonna had not grabbed her truck keys in her haste so that meant she couldn't get too far. She decided to give her some time by herself to cool off. So she went for her phone. Hopefully she could catch Nicole before she got to the hotel. It was probably best if she didn't come over right now. 

Wynonna was pacing outside now. Her eyes were focused on her feet as she crunched through the snow that covered the sidewalks just outside the doors of the hotel. She could not believe what she had just heard. Her little sister had started dating Nicole behind her back. She wasn't sure what to focus on first. The betrayal she felt that Waverly was dating someone she did not trust up until very recently or the fact that she hid it for so long. She was also upset because Waverly had agreed not to date anyone until after this year. The fact that her sister suddenly liked girls was definitely one of the many things racing through her mind, too. 

There was a lot to unpack but the one thing she kept circling back to was the betrayal. She hadn't like Nicole for so long. She barely dared to trust her. Now she felt like a fool for that. Obviously she had been right in her hesitation. Nicole had been scheming behind her back the entire time. That infuriated her most. She felt like she had been tricked into trusting someone who was lying to her. She wasn't sure what Nicole's evil plan was but she was certain now that she most definitely had something up her sleeve. Why else go after Waverly? Nicole knew exactly how to hurt Wynonna the most. 

That was probably why she was as upset as she was at the moment. Because she had finally dared to let her guard down around someone and let them in only to be almost immediately hurt by them. Nicole had put on this nice person facade the entire time just to sucker Wynonna into believing she was safe. This is why she had trust issues. Everyone in her life, aside from Waverly, had lured her in and made her think she was safe before turning their back on her. She should have realized that’s what Nicole was doing, too. She had let herself down, honestly. She had to go back to keeping everyone at arm’s length.

“Nicole fucking Haught” Wynonna grumbled as she kicked a large chunk of frozen snow and ice that had gathered when the sidewalk had been shoveled. Her head gave a disappointed shake at herself. She could not believe she had been fooled by the lame wannabe who couldn’t even properly fight on the ice. Well except for over the weekend when she had taken out Meg. Even that was tainted now. Another trick used to gain Wynonna’s trust.

“Oh, hey, Wynonna!” Nicole’s voice suddenly broke out across the parking lot. Nicole had just gotten out of her car with two pizza boxes and was heading toward their hotel room when she saw the other girl pacing back and forth just a few hundred feet outside the door of their room. 

Wynonna’s eyes lifted quickly and when she saw Nicole her glare narrowed into a scowl. She felt a wave of hot anger wash over her and before she knew what was happening her feet were swiftly carrying her toward the girl. Each step of her boot against the snow was more like a stomp. Her eyes never left Nicole’s face. She was barreling toward Nicole and her flowing red hair just like a bull toward the red cape of a bullfighter in the ring. Only now the bull had the advantage because Nicole could not pull her target away at the last moment because she was the target.

Nicole’s eyes went wide when she saw the way Wynonna was charging at her. She froze in her tracks and just gawked because, well, she had no idea what was coming so she decided to just brace for impact.

“I TRUSTED YOU!” Wynonna shouted when she reached Nicole. Her hand swung back and without a second of hesitation she brought it down heavily right on top of the pizza boxes Nicole was holding. They fell with a thud to the cement at their feet. Wynonna didn’t care. She got right in Nicole’s face and pointed her finger as close to her without touching her as she could “I was a damn fool to think you were really my friend.”

“Woah” Nicole’s hands both lifted up in defense and she took a step back to put some space between them. She stared in horror at Wynonna’s obviously angry demeanor and her head gave a little shake. She tried to speak calmly so as not to rile Wynonna up any further “I am your friend, Wynonna.”

“That’s bullshit. You’re a snake!” Wynonna hissed the words as she stepped toward Nicole once the girl tried to step away from her. “So what’s your big plan, huh? Why go after my little sister? Why play nice with me and rope her in? She hasn’t done anything wrong and I swear to god if you hurt her, I’ll-”

“I won’t hurt her” Nicole said quickly as she started to realize what this was about. Waverly must have told Wynonna about the two of them. Well, at least it was out now and they could deal with it. That was the smallest bit of relief in this tense moment. Her hands slowly lowered and her head gave another slow shake “Wynonna, I don’t have a secret plan. It just happened.”

“Bullshit” Wynonna repeated but the venom in her tone was fading quickly. Her anger was subsiding slightly and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the genuine fear she saw in Nicole’s eyes. She shook that thought off and tried to put more bite in her words again “You came out here to ruin my life and you realized you couldn’t do it on the ice so you decided to go for the throat. You knew Waverly is my world.”

“No, I didn’t” Nicole’s head shook once more. Her tone was soft now. She wanted to show Wynonna that she was not upset at the accusations. She wanted Wynonna to hear the truth in her tone so she could start to believe the words that she spoke. “I swear I had no idea you two were sisters until later on. I wouldn’t have even talked to her if I had known she was your sister, honestly. I had no intention of doing anything that involved you outside of hockey.”

Wynonna’s anger once more waned for a moment. The tone that Nicole spoke with was so certain that it was hard to find a hint of deception behind it. The way she held her eyes without blinking as she spoke made it nearly impossible not to believe. Wynonna let out a heavy sigh and her head gave an angry shake as she tried to find the sheer rage that had been steaming out of her earlier “You’re lying.” She tried to sound sharp but it came out softer than she had intended.

“I promise” Nicole moved one of her hands over her own heart now and gave a single nod. “Wynonna every interaction that we’ve had up until this very moment has been authentic. It has been who I am as a person relating to who you are as a person and nothing more. Trust me, I have been terrified about telling you that Waverly and I are dating because I have been scared of losing the progress that you and I have made.”

Wynonna’s head just shook back and forth slowly now as she stared at Nicole. With each passing second that she looked at the girl in front of her she felt her anger dying. The sincerity of everything Nicole had said was visible on her face. It was hard to see the look in Nicole’s eyes and not believe her. Finally she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Her mind was now racing in a new direction. If Nicole hadn’t done this on purpose it made the situation all the more terrifying because now she knew she could lose Waverly by choice.

When her eyes came open there was a new look behind them. There was no longer anger. It had been replaced by what could only be described as dread. Her head gave one last shake and when she spoke it was weaker than before “You can’t have her.”

“I love her, Wynonna” Nicole stated firmly. “I promise you I’m not going to hurt her.”

Wynonna’s head started to shake back and forth more quickly as Nicole spoke. Her eyes narrowed again and she once more found herself nearly shouting when she spoke “You can’t have her!”

“You can’t tell her who she can and can’t date, Wy-”

“She is mine!” Wynonna cut off Nicole with a tone of near desperation now. She slammed her hand down against her own heart and as her eyes locked with Nicole’s there was a level of emotion behind them that showed this was not an issue of her being overprotective. When it was obvious that her outburst had gotten Nicole’s attention she let out a heavy sigh. Her eyes closed and her head gave another slight shake “She is all I have left.”

“I’m not trying to take her from you” Nicole whispered delicately. She did not want to upset Wynonna any further.

“She chose me” Wynonna continued as if Nicole had not spoken. Her eyes came open and she looked at the girl with a deep sadness behind her gaze now. “I was never anyone’s favorite. Momma loved Willa. Daddy loved Waverly. The only reason I started playing hockey was to get attention from my father. It worked and it was awesome, you know?” She smiled very briefly at the memories of the good times she had shared with her father.

Then the smile faded and she sighed out heavily “Then I had to keep playing because it was the only thing I wasn’t a complete disappointment at. My parents fought all the time. Willa was always gone somewhere else because she didn’t want to deal with what was going on at home. Soon it because pretty clear that the only way I was ever going to have a chance of getting out of here was with hockey.” Her eyes flickered away from Nicole now. She looked down at her feet and her shoulders lifted in a quick shrug “When he hit me for the first time I was ten. I didn’t even cry. I just sat in my room alone trying to decide what I had done to deserve it. I mean your parents are supposed to take care of you and teach you about life, right? So if I was being hit I must have done something to deserve the punishment.”

Nicole’s mouth dropped open slightly and she stared at Wynonna in horrified shock. She had no way of ever guessing that Wynonna had been dealing with being abused for eight years. It broke her heart to learn that it had been going on so long and yet both girls were still so strong and so brave.

“She came into my room that night after she was supposed to be in bed. She wanted to make sure I was okay. I mean, come on, she was eight” Wynonna looked back at Nicole with a little shake of her head “What kind of kid has that sort of compassion at that age?” She smiled just slightly at the thought because she knew her little sister was one of a kind. Her smile faded quickly and she let out another heavy sigh “She told me that night that daddy was no longer her favorite. She said I was her new favorite and that she wanted to spend every day with me because I was braver than anyone she had ever met.”

Nicole bit her lip to fight off a wave of tears she felt wanting to burst out. Her heart was cracking into smaller and smaller pieces with each word Wynonna spoke.

“She told me she would never leave me” Wynonna felt herself choke on the words. She lifted a hand to quickly wipe at the single tear that had managed to escape her eye. She glanced up at Nicole briefly before her eyes fell back to her feet “She’s been my biggest supporter since that day. She has always believed I would get out of here on a hockey scholarship. She never let me stop trying. Hell she even forced me out a bed some days when I was injured and just wanted to give it all up.” Finally when her eyes lifted again and found Nicole’s steady gaze she left them there. She stared deep into the very depth of Nicole’s being as she spoke more firmly than she had been just a moment earlier “So, you see, you can’t do this to me. Losing her will destroy me.”

“I’m not going to take her away from you” Nicole’s tone trembled as she fought off all the emotions that were crashing against the back of her throat. She felt like she couldn’t breathe but she did not want to cry. She wanted to be strong for Wynonna. She wanted to prove to her that she had one more person she could rely on.

“You wouldn’t have to take her” Wynonna whispered as another tear was wiped off her cheek quickly. “She would go willingly. Waverly loves with her entire being and she doesn’t hold back when it comes to that love. So if it came down to it…” She let out a huff of a sigh and shook her head slightly “...she would go with you because she knows I’ll always be here waiting for her.”

“You won’t be here waiting” Nicole’s hand quickly swiped at the corner of her eye to brush away the tear that had pushed itself out. It was growing harder to look into the eyes of her broken friend and not want to break down in tears with her. But she drew in a steadying breath and nodded firmly “You’ll be off playing hockey and terrorizing every single team you play against.” She let out a soft laugh at that and offered Wynonna crooked smile “It’s your destiny, Wynonna. The person you become on the ice is the kind of person who doesn’t belong anywhere else.”

“I can’t do any of this without her” Wynonna mumbled before turning her head away from Nicole now. She closed her eyes and let a few more tears squeeze out. She hated that the person she had considered her worst enemy just a few weeks prior was now the one comforting her. It was strange because no one in her life comforted her. No one but Waverly. She liked it that way. She didn’t get hurt that way.

“You can do anything you set your mind to” Nicole whispered as she stepped closer to Wynonna. She gently moved her hand to rest on the girl’s shoulder. She was surprised when Wynonna did not pull out of her touch. A soft warmth moved through her at that. Maybe, even though she had been pissed just moments before, Wynonna really did trust her. “But I promise you won’t have to do any of this alone. I’m here right now…” She gave a nod and put her free hand over her heart as if to emphasize her point. “And Waverly will always be by your side.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes and turned to look at Nicole now that she had managed to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. When her gaze was met tenderly by Nicole she felt her stomach knot up. She wasn’t really sure why this girl cared so much but she could see in her eyes that she honestly did. It was a lot to handle. So she pulled out of Nicole’s touch and shrugged her shoulders “If she doesn’t decide to follow you to college instead of me.”

“Maybe we can go to the same college?” Nicole suggested with a little shrug as a smile flickered at the corner of her mouth. It was a pipe dream, really, but she wouldn’t rule it out. If things got serious enough with Waverly it would be nice to not have to deal with a long distance relationship. It would also be nice to have a friend by her side as she ventured into the overwhelming world of college.

Wynonna spat out a weak laugh and shook her head at that. She leaned down now to scoop up the two pizza boxes she had slapped out of Nicole’s hands. The pizza was probably cold but the amazing thing about pizza was it still tasted good cold. Once she was upright again she glanced at Nicole then motioned with her head for the girl to follow her “Can we focus on food right now and leave all this college talk for later? My tank of emotional juice is running on empty.”

Nicole didn’t argue. She just offered the girl a smile and followed her lead. She was glad that all of her worrying was over. Yes it had been terrifying, especially when angry Wynonna had stormed up to her, but it was over now. They could focus on the future. No more hiding and no more guilt. They could be open and honest and, hopefully, it would strengthen their friendship. Considering Wynonna hadn’t threatened to kick her ass if she ever saw her again she assumed the girl was alright with the fact that Waverly was her girlfriend. All she knew for certain was she respected Wynonna even more than she had before. The strength that she had, even after all she had endeared, was astounding. She would never look at Wynonna the same again.

“Pizza’s here but Haught dropped it” Wynonna called out as she pushed the hotel door open and greeted Waverly with a weak smile.

Waverly jumped up off the bed she had been sitting on, soaking in worry, and smiled in relief when she saw her sister had returned. Then she heard the words about the pizza and saw Nicole follow Wynonna into the room and she blinked in surprise. She tilted her head to the side and motioned between the two of them “Did I miss something?”

“Yeah. Your girlfriend is a klutz. Here” Wynonna shoved the smaller box containing the vegan pizza at her sister before turning around to the table where she had set the real food. She flipped open the box and groaned when she saw the toppings had all slid to one side. Sure it was her fault but she would go to the grave blaming Nicole.

Waverly perked an eyebrow curiously on her forehead and looked pleasantly surprised as she glanced from her sister to Nicole. She gave a single shrug of her shoulder as if silently asking what had happened.

Nicole just offered Waverly a soft smile and a thumbs up. She then slid off her coat and hung it with the others on the rack near the door before reaching in for a slice of pizza herself. Nothing more was said about anything that happened earlier in the evening. The three of them shared a meal, watched a few movies on the tv in the room, and eventually called it a night.

Waverly had insisted on walking Nicole to her car even though it was a well-lit parking lot and it was only a few hundred feet away from their room door. But Nicole didn’t argue. Instead she bundled herself back into her coat and scarf, said goodbye to Wynonna, and held the door open for Waverly to go ahead of her.

The two of them fell in step side by side. Both of them had their hands tucked safely away in the pockets of their coats, protecting their fingers from the the penetrating chill of the night air. Waverly glanced up at Nicole and a slight smile came to her lips before she breathed out her soft question “What happened?”

Nicole just shook her head and lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. She kept her eyes fixed on her car as it drew closer with each step they took. She wasn’t sure what she could share with Waverly. She didn’t want Wynonna to think that anything they talked about would automatically be shared with her sister. She wanted to be a safe place for Wynonna to express things that maybe she didn’t feel like she could say to Waverly. So after a moment of thought about it all she just let out a puff of air “We had an honest conversation about it.”

“Really?” Waverly coughed out a laugh because she could not believe it. That seemed too easy. “You and Wynonna, my sister who never takes anything seriously, talked about feelings?” She shook her head in amusement at the thought. “I was afraid she was going to punch her feelings out right on your beautiful face.”

Nicole fought off a smile at the sly compliment from her girlfriend. They reached her car now and she turned to finally face Waverly before nodding in agreement “Oh trust me when I saw her storming toward me my life flashed before my eyes.”

“But she didn’t hit you?” Waverly perked an eyebrow curiously.

“I know it’s surprising but…” Nicole just shook her head to finish her answer as no. She drew in a deep breath and let it out very slowly as she thought about what she wanted to say next. After mulling it over a moment she looked back to her girlfriend “She loves you and I think she was just scared I was going to hurt you. I mean up until recently I was this kind of evil person in her eyes, you know?” She motioned to her own face to indicate the time Nicole had nearly blinded Wynonna with a puck. It had been accidental but that didn’t matter when your livelihood was at stake. “I think that image is still fading in the back of her mind as it’s being replaced by the real version of me. Trust is a scary thing. She’s been burned before so I think she’s just being careful.”

Waverly looked at Nicole with sheer awe in her eyes. She had never met anyone who had been able to settled Wynonna down and talk her through whatever crisis she was going through. Herself excluded, of course. She was even more amazed that her sister was accepting Nicole’s help and comfort. She smiled very softly and lifted onto her toes now. She gently placed a kiss to Nicole’s cheek before stepping back and lowering herself off her toes. “You’re amazing.”

“Nah” Nicole shrugged off the compliment as a blush rushed through her cheeks. Luckily the biting cold had already turned her cheeks red so Waverly couldn’t see the difference in color even though Nicole felt the heat replace the cold in that moment. She shook her head then pulled her hand out of her pocket to reveal the keys to her car. “Have a good night, Waverly. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe we can even hold hands in the hallway now” Waverly chirped with a soft laugh. When Nicole let out a laugh of her own and gave her a nod that was all she needed to know that the relief she was feeling was shared by the other girl. She had not realized the weight she had been carrying around. Now that it was out in the open she had a sense that all the amazing feelings she got when she was with Nicole would only continue to get better and better. Nothing bad could happen now. With Wynonna and Nicole both by her side she had a hunch that maybe, just maybe, they would all get out of this unscathed. Maybe that was a little naive on her part but oh well. Until something proved her wrong she would cling to the idea that they were out of the woods.

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	15. #15 - Milt Schmidt

It had been about a week since Wynonna had found out about Nicole and Waverly dating. Things were going smoothly. It took all of about a day for Wynonna to just accept what was happening and move on. Knowing that they were dating had caused her to pay a little more attention to their interactions and she had noticed very quickly how good the two of them were together. She could see that Nicole was genuine. She could tell that Nicole cared for her sister on a level unmatched by anyone but herself. Most importantly she could see that her sister was happy. That is all that really mattered to her so she let it go and accepted it.

Waverly had been spending more time at Nicole’s place ever since telling Wynonna they were dating. Now that she didn’t have to hide the truth about her real whereabouts it was a lot more enjoyable. In fact, everyone seemed more carefree. Nicole and Waverly were more relaxed because they weren’t terrified of the news getting out. Anyone with eyeballs could tell that the two of them were absolutely enamoured with one another. They quickly became one of the school’s most popular couples.

Wynonna didn’t mind. She was a little bummed that she had less time with her sister but she filled that time with work. Even though she didn’t need to pay for the hotel any longer she still needed food and other everyday necessities of life and she refused to let Nicole foot the bill for those too. She still had every intention of repaying Nicole’s parents one day. She wasn’t sure how but she would totally do it.

Nicole had offered for Wynonna and Waverly to just come stay at her house. She could totally sleep in her parents’ room, since they were never home, and the sisters could share a bed. But Wynonna had declined mostly so her sister and Nicole could have a place to have alone time together. Not too much alone time, of course. Waverly was under a curfew. But she knew her sister was smart and she was very courteous to Wynonna’s wishes so no problems had arisen. Plus it wasn’t like Waverly could get knocked up so Wynonna didn’t worry too much about it. She really, truthfully, trusted Nicole to take care of her sister which was the biggest surprise of it all. 

It was a rare night where they did not have a hockey game and the homework had been light at school. Nicole was laid out on her back along her couch in the living room. Her feet were hanging over the edge because she was still out growing everything she owned and that included the ten year old couch her parents had. Her hand laid on her stomach and she let out a groan as her eyes lazily watched the hockey game that was playing on her tv.

“I am so full” She moaned out loud enough for Waverly to hear from the kitchen. It wasn’t like it was a huge apartment so the sound easily carried to where the other girl was finishing putting away the meal she had made.

“I told you vegan food could be delicious” Waverly chirped with a laugh as she wiped down the counter top. She was never one to leave a mess, especially not when she was a guest in someone’s home. She looked around and made sure everything looked completely clean before nodding in approval at herself and hanging up the towel she had been using to wipe everything down.

“Lucky for you I’m not picky” Nicole laughed out softly. Waverly had cooked a full vegan meal for her twice now and she was quickly growing fond of the nights when her girlfriend cooked for her. It wasn’t about the food it was about the time she got to spend alone with Waverly. It seemed the more time they spent together the closer they got. It was a new experience for her but it wasn’t as scary as she had thought it would be.

“You are very easy to please” Waverly nodded with a smirk as she approached the couch now that she was done in the kitchen. She stood near Nicole’s feet and looked the girl over once before letting out a soft laugh “Okay, where am I supposed to sit?”

Nicole perked an eyebrow and looked away from the tv. She eyed Waverly up and down slowly then gave a playful shrug, as if she didn’t care, and looked back at the hockey game “The floor?”

Waverly let out an offended gasp. She fixed her hands firmly on her hips and scowled down at her girlfriend now “I spend an hour cooking and cleaning for you and you can’t even make room for me on the couch?”

Nicole knew Waverly wasn’t really mad. She smirked in amusement at her pretend fit and looked at her with a curious eyebrow raised in her direction “I was here first. If you want to sit here you have to make room.”

“Make-” Waverly coughed out the word in disbelief. Nicole was asking for trouble. She bit her lip to hide an amused smile and gave a snort as she quickly moved into action. She grabbed Nicole’s feet and ripped them off the arm rest where they had been set. She then scooped her arm around both ankles, trapping Nicole’s feet against her body, before her free hand went to work. Her fingers started digging into the soles of her girlfriend’s feet feverishly. If Nicole wanted to play this game than Waverly would play dirty.

“NO!” Nicole yelped out as soon as she felt the first touch of Waverly’s fingers against her feet. She had been foolish to admit to the girl that her feet were so ticklish. It was honestly ridiculous. She couldn’t even scratch an itch on the bottom of her feet without it making her laugh. It was her one weakness and right now Waverly was exploiting it.

She thrashed about the best she could with how Waverly had a hold on her legs. She sat up and tried to push her hands against Waverly’s back and use it for leverage so she could pull her legs free “Stop! STOP!” She howled out between fits of laughter as she tried desperately to escape from the torture.

Waverly, not one to be too mean, dropped Nicole’s legs to the floor and with a satisfied smirk on her lips turned and plopped down into the open spot on the couch. She fought off the last of her laughter and fixed Nicole with an innocently sweet smile as if she hadn’t just gotten her way by force “Aww thanks for making room for me, sweetie.”

“That was mean” Nicole growled and gave a quick jab with her finger into Waverly’s ribs.

This caused Waverly to jump and once more give an offended gasp. Her eyes got wide and she pointed at Nicole with a warning glare in her eyes “No. Don’t you dare. I only did it to- AH!”

Nicole lunged at Waverly and tackled her back against the couch. Her fingers immediately dug into Waverly’s ribs, moving quickly in and out, up and down, tickling all the spots on the girl that she knew would make her squeal with laughter.

“NICOLE STOP!” Waverly squeaked out through her roaring laughter. Her hands batted furiously in an attempt to stop the onslaught from Nicole’s fingers. But each time she got a little freedom from one hand the other hand was coming back with full force. Soon she was so lost in the fit of laughter that she had tears in her eyes.

Nicole finally stopped because she could tell Waverly needed to catch her breath. She held herself over the girl, smirking down at her victoriously, as she watched Waverly compose herself after the attack. When their eyes met she gave her a wide smile “Remember this the next time you think tickling my feet is a good plan of attack. I am stronger than you and you are far more ticklish than me.”

“No fair” Waverly put on a pout even if she wasn’t really upset at all. She wiped at her eyes and let out a happy sigh as her breathing started to even out again. She stared up at Nicole and her pout faded into a very soft smile. Her hand lifted and she gently brushed her fingers against Nicole’s cheek as her gaze softened on the girl “You make me so happy, Nicole.”

A rush of blood filled Nicole’s cheeks at the sudden confession. It had been unexpected in the moment. Her heart fluttered at the way Waverly was looking at her. She had never felt this way about anyone in her entire life. Not that she had lived a long life but, still. It meant something to her. She didn’t like getting too close to people because she knew eventually she would have to move away. With Waverly, she had not had the choice. The moment her eyes had fallen on the girl leaning against her car was the moment she lost all say in the matter. Her heart had been claimed.

Realizing she hadn’t said anything, Nicole let out a breath of a laugh and shook her head slightly. She rocked back off of Waverly so she could sit beside her. She reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle pull to indicate she wanted the girl to shift so they could sit closer. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Waverly. When I’m with you…” She trailed off and gave her head a shake because, honestly, she had no words for it. There was no greater feeling than when she was with Waverly. Even when she was playing hockey she didn’t feel like she did when she was with the girl. Playing hockey was a great high, a rush like no other, and she enjoyed it. But it was not the same as making Waverly smile.

When Nicole had pulled at her hand Waverly had sat up on the couch. She did not scoot closer to her, though. Instead she had turned to face her and, with one knee on the couch, she slid her other knee over Nicole’s lap. She bit her lip shyly, as if she were afraid Nicole would not accept her onto her lap. But she wanted to be close. She wanted to look into Nicole’s eyes and be in her arms. So she slid her arms around Nicole’s shoulders, put a knee on each side of Nicole’s waist, and sat on her legs. She smiled as she settled herself there and gave a nod to show she had heard the words her girlfriend had said “I know what you mean.”

Without a beat of hesitation Nicole slid her hands up Waverly’s legs slowly. She kept her eyes locked with the girl on her lap as her hands curved up over her hip bones and slowly came to rest around her back. She gave one nod and before she spoke her tongue swept over her lips “Sometimes the things I feel about you scare me.”

“Don’t be scared” Waverly’s breath trembled as she spoke the words. Her hand once more came up to brush at Nicole’s cheek. Her eyes held with Nicole’s, unblinking and steady, as her head once more gave a nod “You have nothing to fear.”

Nicole’s face instinctively turned into Waverly’s touch. Her eyes shut and she felt herself starting to melt under the girl. She felt so safe and so warm. She liked to pretend nothing phased her but deep down inside she was afraid of getting too close. Somehow Waverly quelled that fear. Neither of them knew what the future held but it didn’t seem to matter. They managed to always live in the moment and Nicole had never experienced anything like that. 

When her eyes came open she saw Waverly watching her. Her cheeks pinked again slightly. Feeling suddenly bashful she tried to turn her eyes away but Waverly’s hand prevented it. Instead her eyes once more locked with Waverly’s gentle gaze and before she knew what was happening she felt the truth tumbling from her lips “I’m in love with you.”

Waverly’s head tried to shake away the overwhelming emotions Nicole’s words had caused as she quickly grabbed hold of Nicole’s face with her other hand. In a split second she was pulling Nicole’s lips up to greet the kiss she was leaning down into. Her heart swelled over with emotion in that moment as they lost themselves in the undeniable passion that surged between them. 

Maybe it was the teenager hormones. Perhaps it was the emotional tides crashing inside them. It could possibly be linked to all they had been through together in such a short time. Whatever it was it came bursting from behind the gates that had been holding it back and suddenly there were no reservations between them any longer. Lips and tongues danced feverishly together. Hands started to pull at clothes hungrily, almost desperately, begging for them to give way to what was underneath. Soft moans of liking and hums of approval filled the tiny space between them as the yearning they felt grew stronger by the moment.

Nicole scooped an arm around Waverly’s back to support her weight as she shifted to the side. In a single fluid movement she slowly lowered the girl onto the couch and moved over her gently. She held herself up, though just barely, allowing the smallest space to linger between them. This afforded just enough room for her hand to dip below Waverly’s shirt and slowly find new territory to explore. Fingers grazed over the warm skin along her stomach before following the gentle dips and valleys created by ribs. Finally her hand scooped around Waverly’s side, her thumb brushing just under the cup of her bra, testing boundaries as well as respecting them.

Waverly’s skin prickled with goosebumps at the way Nicole’s touch feathered over her. She breathed out an encouraging moan into the kiss to let the girl know that she had permission to continue on whatever path she had in mind. Her own hand had taken off on it’s own exploration down Nicole’s back and now her fingers tugged at the hem of her girlfriend’s shirt, pulling up along her body, hoping Nicole would receive the message of what she wanted.

The message was clear and Nicole broke the kiss they had been locked in for the first time in favor of pulling her torso out of the shirt she wore. She lifted her arms above her lowered head and shifted backwards just enough to aid Waverly in working the material off her body. Once she was freed, she straightened up slightly and stared down at the girl below her. Realizing she was in just her sports bra and a pair of sweats now made her suddenly shy. She bit her lip and tried to give Waverly a smile.

Sensing that Nicole was nervous, Waverly propped herself up on her elbows slightly. Her eyes moved up to meet Nicole’s timid stare and she offered her a calm smile. Her hand lifted and she gently let her fingers sweep over Nicole’s fit torso. She nodded in approval and perked an eyebrow at the girl “You think I’d be the nervous one being as this is all new to me.”

Nicole blushed very softly and dropped her eyes to look at Waverly’s hand. As fingers danced across her stomach it felt as if the butterflies that had taken up residence there danced along with each touch. Her abs flexed and she felt goosebumps cover her skin. She drew in a deep breath and slowly brought her eyes back up to find Waverly watching her. This somehow made her blush deepen and after a moment she realized she had to come clean “I’ve never done this before.”

The surprise on Waverly’s face was plain as day. She blinked once then fixed Nicole with a blank stare. It took her a few beats to really understand what had been said before she finally let out a breath of a laugh and shook her head “Wait, really?”

Nicole just gave a pathetic sideways nod.

Waverly bit her lip and sat completely upright now. The motion forced Nicole to rock back, since Waverly had been under her, and now Nicole was sitting on Waverly’s lap. She gently eyed her girlfriend and after she realized Nicole was being honest a soft smile came to her lips “When I asked around about you I heard you were kind of a player.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and let out a sheepish laugh. Her head shook slightly as her hand came up to push back through her loose hanging short red curls “I made out with a lot of girls. But it was never serious.” She bit her lip and her hand dropped now to gently slide along Waverly’s arm. She reached her hand and took hold of it delicately as her eyes settled seriously on her girlfriend’s “Not until now.”

Waverly’s eyes softened once more and it looked like she visibly melted at the words. Nicole made her feel like she was the only person in the world that mattered to her. She had never felt special and yet, almost from the start, Nicole had managed to make her feel as such time and time again. Even more so Nicole managed to make her believe she was special. Made her feel as though she was more than just Wynonna’s sister or the Sheriff’s daughter. She was a separate person who had her own worth and that worth, according to Nicole at least, was a lot more than she had ever thought.

“Then we can do this together” Waverly finally said with a confident nod. She had been nervous because she thought Nicole was experienced. Knowing that they were both going into this for the first time put her at ease. It was something special that they could share together. That was an experience unmatched by anything else in the world. She felt honored to be able to share it with the first person she had ever loved.

“Are you sure?” Nicole perked an eyebrow now as she let go of Waverly’s hand in favor of once more sliding it under the hem of her shirt. Her fingers moved around to her back and lightly moved up and down almost as if silently reassuring the girl that there was no pressure.

“I love you, Nicole” Waverly whispered as both hands moved to once more cup Nicole’s face. Her gaze was much more focused now as she stared into her girlfriend’s eyes. “There are so many things in life I am uncertain of and this, my dear, is not one of them.”

The smile that spread over Nicole’s lips at Waverly’s confession was the purest and most joyful smile she had ever produced in her life. She gave a single nod to let the girl know she understood before her head dipped and her lips found Waverly’s in another passionate kiss.

The hunger for one another seemed more urgent now. All hesitations and uncertainties had been lifted and all that was left now were new places to discover. They quickly fell back into the intensity that had grown between them before Nicole had cut off the first kiss. Waverly once more laid back against the couch and Nicole was once more holding herself above her.

Soon Nicole’s hips were resting against Waverly’s. Their legs were entangled. Waverly’s shirt had been tossed to the floor shortly after the second kiss had began. They were now taking their time to enjoy the kiss and to let their fingers soak in every new inch of skin that had been presented to them. Soft moans escaped every now and then, especially when Nicole shifted slightly to the side and her hip bone pressed into just the right spot where it came to rest between Waverly’s legs.

The kiss was broken again by Nicole but not out of hesitation. Instead her lips moved quickly along Waverly’s jaw line, back to the lobe of her ear, before slowly following the curve of her neck. Her teeth scraped gently, only to take in the taste of the skin and not to leave a mark, and she smirked each time Waverly giggled in response. She had found yet another place the girl was ticklish. She would definitely keep that in mind.

As her lips continued, tracing the line of Waverly’s collarbones, her hands dropped down over her stomach. She let her fingers dance there just a moment, a whisper of a touch, before moving on to the top of her jeans. Somehow her fingers located and unbuttoned the garment in one flawless attempt. She then quickly worked the zipper open before sliding her hand just under Waverly’s hip bone and around to her back, peeling the material down her waist as she moved.

Waverly’s hips lifted without pause to allow the material to pass over her ass. It never made it that far, though. Suddenly a thunderous knock shattered the near silence of the apartment out of nowhere.

Nicole nearly jumped out of her skin. Like a kid caught doing something bad she pulled both hands away from Waverly and sat upright quickly. She blinked once and focused on her front door. She realized very quickly that there wasn’t a single person who knew where she lived, present company excluded.

Another echoing knock filled the apartment. The sound was a little louder and a little quicker. The knocks almost sounded desperate.

“Stay here” Nicole whispered softly as she climbed to her feet. She scooped her shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head quickly, sliding her arms in and walking at the same time. She then moved to where her hockey bag had been tossed earlier that day and slid one of her sticks out of the slot where she kept them. She slowly moved toward the door now, her eyes focusing on it sharply, as her hands gripped her stick tightly. If someone wanted to bust in here to rob her they had a nasty surprise waiting for them on the other side.

“Haught? Hey, open up, it’s me” Wynonna’s voice finally came through the door as the knocks subsided.

Nicole released a breath she had not realized she had been holding. She glanced back to Waverly and let out a laugh “It’s your sister.” She then became aware of the fact that her girlfriend was shirtless and had her jeans open on her couch and she bit her lip “Hurry up and get dressed!” She turned around, set her stick near the wall, slid the chain lock on the door into place then pulled it open just enough to look through the crack “What are you doing here?”

Wynonna pushed on the door now that it was open and tried to barge in. That was when she was met with resistance from the chain. She blinked and looked up at the tiny gold links impeding her entrance and she gave a scowl “Hey, is Waverly here?”

“Of course she is” Nicole laughed the words as if it had been a stupid thing to ask. 

“I need to-” Wynonna again tried to push the door open. She frowned at the chain once more then motioned to it “I’m not here to kill you. Can I please come in? It’s important.”

“What’s up?” Nicole’s face immediately twisted with concern at the look on Wynonna’s face.

“Just-” Wynonna grunted and pushed on the door once more “Let me in god damn it!”

“Hold your horses” Nicole frowned and closed the door in order to slide the chain out of place. She glanced over her shoulder to check that Waverly was decent. When she saw her girlfriend fully dressed and looking concerned she gave a nod and pulled the door completely open now.

“Paranoid, much?” Wynonna growled as she stormed passed Nicole quickly. She took three steps toward her sister then paused. She looked around the apartment, looked at both of them standing there staring at her, and then focused her eyes on her sister. She curled her lip up at the corner of her mouth and motioned to Nicole over her shoulder “You guys weren’t…” She used her hands to make the universal signal of having sex, her index finger going into a slightly closed fist, and perked an eyebrow in questioning.

“Ew, grow up” Waverly rolled her eyes and took the final step toward her sister before batting her hands down. “Now what’s wrong?”

“Ew?” Nicole whispered to herself with a frown as she closed the door.

“Look” Wynonna let out a heavy sigh and reached for her sister’s hand. She fixed a very serious look on her face and spoke directly so there was no mistaking that she was being honest. “Daddy knows we’re at the hotel.”

“What?” Waverly deflated like all the air was knocked out of her by the words.

“He came to the room” Wynonna threw her hands out to the side now in a sort of defeated shrug. “He was crazy pissed. Said he was going to contact every school that had come to scout me and tell them a bunch of lies. He said he was going to send them my criminal record or some shit.”

“But you don’t have one” Waverly said with a roll of her eyes.

“Apparently he can just…” Wynonna snapped to indicate he could make a fake record and gave a shrug. Her head gave a heavy shake and her eyes dropped to her feet. “He’s insane, Waves. He wants us to come home or he’s going to ruin my chances at a scholarship.”

“He can’t” Waverly’s entire face curled into a frown. She stared in disbelief at her sister for a moment before she stepped into her and wrapped her arms around her tightly. “There has to be something we can do.”

“What if we catch him in the act?” Nicole spat the words out before she even realized she had thought them.

“What?” The sisters said at the same time. Wynonna turned and glanced at Nicole over her shoulder and let out a soft laugh “Are you insane?”

“No” Nicole moved quickly now so she was standing next to the sisters. She looked between them and gave a nod “I mean all we need is undeniable proof that you are in danger. Obviously reporting it hasn’t worked in the past because he knows everyone in town and they don’t see him as that type of guy, right?”

The sisters shared a curious look and Waverly nodded.

“So we get proof” Nicole said with a shrug as if that were an easy solution. “Even just a threat. It doesn’t have to be physical. A real threat is all we need. With proof like that it would go to, like, the next level” She raised a hand in a motion like she were going up a step and gave another nod “Above his head and out of his reach. Then he can’t weasel his way out of it.”

“Let’s say this works” Wynonna lifted her hand to stop Nicole from continuing. Her head shook and she spat out an unamused breath of a laugh “How are we going to get proof?”

Nicole bit her lip and her hopefulness faded for the first time. She glanced at her feet and let out a heavy sigh before slowly bringing her eyes back up to the girls “We’d have to bait him.”

“Me” Wynonna pointed at herself and scowled. “I’m guessing I’m the bait.”

Nicole just shrugged and nodded in confirmation.

“No way” Wynonna shook her head quickly and looked at her sister. “I’m not putting my ass on the line for something that might not work. Hell no.”

“It’s fine” Waverly put a hand on her sister’s shoulder and spoke very gently to try and calm her down before she got too upset. “You’re right, it’s not worth the risk.”

Nicole frowned but nodded too. She let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes at herself “Yeah, that was a dumb idea. I’m sorry.”

Wynonna cast a glare at Nicole then looked at her sister. She could see the worry painted on Waverly’s face and it broke her heart. She let out a defeated sounding breath before shaking her head “I don’t know what to do. If he ruins my chance at a scholarship I’ll never leave this place.”

“I’ll do it” Nicole stiffened her posture and puffed out her chest. She looked between the two girls and gave a single nod “I’ll get him to say something incriminating. I’ll…” She shrugged and let out a sputtering breath as she tried to find the words she wanted to describe her galant plan. When nothing eloquent came to her, she deflated with a shrug “I’ll go over there and say I’m getting your things. Maybe he will get pissed and argue with me and admit he will beat you if you don’t come home or something?”

“I don’t think they’ll take a threat seriously if it’s not directly at us” Wynonna shrugged weakly before moving around Waverly and sitting on the couch. She let out a huff as she sat back and kicked her feet up on the small coffee table in front of her. “There’s no way out of this. If we don’t go home he is going to ruin my life. If we do go home he will probably beat me to death before I graduate so…”

“Don’t say that” Waverly moved over her and sat next to her sister. She reached out and took hold of one of her hands between two of her own. She gave a tight squeeze and fixed her eyes in a serious look “Wynonna, nothing is hopeless. We will figure this out.”

“How?” Wynonna sounded defeated. Her words were weak. She slumped into the couch. It was the first time Nicole had ever seen Wynonna without an ounce of fight in her. It broke her heart.

“There has to be a way” Nicole said gently as she approached the couch. She sat next to Wynonna’s feet on the coffee table and put her hand on the girl’s shin. The touch was meant to be comforting but not invasive. They weren’t exactly the touchy-feely type of friends.

Wynonna glanced at Nicole and rolled her eyes. She knew the girl was trying to make her feel better but she was convinced there was no way out of this so all optimism was annoying to her. She then offered just a flicker of a smile to Nicole because, well, she was at least trying to help and she did appreciate that. It was fleeting, though, and her eyes focused quickly back on her sister. “I say we run.”

“No” Waverly nearly choked on the disapproving laugh that came with the word. “We are Earps and Earps do not run from their problems.”

“Speak for yourself” Wynonna snorted the words out. “Momma? Willa?” She shook her head in disgust at the other members of their family who had tucked tail and ran without looking back.

“Well, Momma isn’t an Earp by blood” Waverly mumbled with a slight shrug. “And there have always been rumors about Willa’s paternity” She smirked at that. It had been a joke in their family for as long as she could remember. At least she had thought it was a joke. The more she learned growing up the more she thought it might be true.

Try as she might to fight it, Wynonna smirked. She hated that Waverly could make her feel better when all she wanted to do was feel sorry for herself. The smirk faded and she let out a soft sigh “Do you have any suggestions on what to do here?”

“Not yet” Waverly admitted with a sad frown. 

“For now” Nicole butted in and stood up from the table she had been seated on “You two stay here.” She gave a motion around the entirety of her apartment before focusing back on the sisters. “He doesn’t know where I live so you’ll be safe here.”

“Yet” Wynonna huffed out.

“For now” Waverly repeated Nicole’s sentiment just a moment earlier. “We can only take this one day at a time, okay? And for right now we are safe here.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes before looking between the girls a few times. Realizing they were both staring at her expectantly she finally threw her hands up in a motion of surrender “Okay, fine! We can stay here. It will be nice not having to share every inch of personal space with you” She smirked and poked at Waverly’s side.

Waverly squeaked and grabbed her side and threw a scowl at her sister.

Wynonna’s smirk grew at her sister’s displeasure. She then looked at Nicole and offered her a softer smile. The two of them shared a look and Nicole knew immediately that Wynonna was grateful for the gesture. She didn’t need to hear it. She could see the relief in her friend’s eyes. She was just glad Wynonna hadn’t fought it.

“But” Wynonna turned her focus back to her sister and her smile faded. She pointed at Waverly firmly and gave her head a shake “The first time I hear you two going at it I am going to insist you sleep with me.”

Waverly’s cheek blazed a bright red. She gave a weak shake of her head and shyly tucked some hair behind her ear “We aren’t…” She sighed and rolled her eyes “...we aren’t there yet.”

“Yeah right” Wynonna stood up now with a satisfied smirk on her face. She looked between her sister and Nicole, who stood there looking uncomfortable, before she glanced back at Waverly and motioned toward her with a quick point of her finger “Then why is your shirt on inside out?”

Waverly’s eyes went wide and she looked down at herself. Sure enough, in her haste to get redressed, she had neglected to notice the tshirt she wore was inside out. She groaned out softly and hid her face behind her hands because she was more embarrassed than she had ever been in her life.

Nicole blushed too. She stared blankly at Waverly and was kicking herself for having not noticed the shirt was not on correctly. The last thing she had ever wanted was Wynonna finding out that they had been even attempting to be physical.

Her thoughts were broken when she felt Wynonna brush past her. She blinked to bring herself back to the moment and turned to see the girl moving toward the door. Her brows creased together and she shook her head “Wait, where are you going?”

“To get our shit?” Wynonna said with a laugh as if that should have been obvious. “And check out of the hotel.”

“Right” Nicole gave a single nod. She glanced from Wynonna over to Waverly before motioning toward the door “You should probably go, too. Pack your stuff. I’ll stay here and…” She shook her head and looked around because, honestly, there wasn’t much she could do. “Change the sheets on both the beds, I guess.”

“Yeah I don’t wanna be sleeping in your sex juices” Wynonna snickered as she reached out to open the door.

“We haven’t…” Nicole blushed and gave a weak shake of her head.

“Just shut up” Waverly grumbled and gave her sister a firm shove in the back to push her through the open door and out of the apartment. She then turned and grabbed her coat from the hook she had hung it on when she had arrived a few hours earlier. She gave Nicole a soft smile as she slid her arms into the garment “Ignore her. If we don’t react she will stop.”

“I can’t believe your shirt was inside out” Nicole let out a huff of a laugh and moved over to her girlfriend with a delicate smile on her lips.

“A definite learning moment” Waverly agreed as she zipped up her coat. She then lifted onto her toes and touched a light kiss to her lips before stepping away. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

Nicole nodded as a goofy smile filled her lips. She lifted her hand and waved slightly as she watched her girlfriend disappear through the door. She pushed it closed behind her and once it clicked closed she let out a heavy sigh. She was beginning to realize that there was never a dull moment when you had the Earps in your life. Honestly, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	16. #16 - Brett Hull

“Hey, Haught” Wynonna spoke softly as she caught up with the girl who was slightly ahead of her in the hallway. They were heading out of school toward the practice rink. It had been two days since Wynonna and Waverly had moved in with Nicole and everyone was a little on edge. It was as if they were collectively waiting for Ward Earp to show up at Nicole’s door and make yet another threat.

“Hey” Nicole glanced to Wynonna and offered her a casual smile as she pushed the door to the outside open. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen Waverly today?” Wynonna’s voice was dripping with concern.

Nicole just gave a shake of her head as she thought about it. After a moment her brows creased together as she realized it had been a while. “Not since before lunch, actually.” She paused in her steps just outside the door and turned to look at Wynonna with worry taking over her features “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know” Wynonna said with an honest shrug as she looked around. Realizing there were too many people in the area she grabbed ahold of Nicole’s arm and pulled her away from the building. Once they had tucked themselves up next to a large trash bin she released her grip “I have a weird feeling something is going on. It’s not like Waverly to disappear.”

“Yeah she usually comes up to me between the last two classes of the day and gives me a little kiss on the cheek and-”

Wynonna held her hand up for Nicole to stop. She made a slight gagging motion then shook it off. She was okay with her sister and Nicole’s relationship but she had to be around it all the time at home so she did not need to hear about it at school too.

“I think I’m going to skip practice and go look for her” Wynonna glanced around again as if she were afraid someone would overhear.

“You can’t skip practice” Nicole looked almost horrified at the thought. “Nedley will bench you.”

“Then he benches me” Wynonna shrugged it off as if that were a ridiculous thing to worry about. “Some things are more important than hockey, Nicole.”

“I know that” Nicole frowned and hung her head slightly. She kind of felt like Wynonna had just scolded her like a child. She drew in a deep breath and looked back up now before giving a nod “You’re right. I’ll skip too. If something is wrong we need to figure it out.”

“Stay” Wynonna put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder and looked her dead in the eyes to show her she was serious. “If Nedley freaks out I am going to need you to advocate for me. Besides…” She dropped her hand away now and let it slap against her leg lightly “...the last thing we need is for the both of us to miss our next game.”

“Right” Nicole let out a sigh as her head nodded. “Okay, yeah, I’ll go. I will just tell him…” She trailed off as she tried to formulate a good lie. When that fell short because, well she is a terrible liar, she just shrugged and gave Wynonna a frown “...what should I tell him?”

“Tell him I had a run in with the police” Wynonna gave a firm nod then stepped away from Nicole. 

“I don’t think that’s a good lie at all” Nicole hurried to catch up with Wynonna who had suddenly decided it was time to go.

“He will know what I mean” Wynonna waved her off without looking over.

“But what if he asks-”

“Haught” Wynonna stopped and put her hand right in the middle of Nicole’s chest. She stared at her firmly so there was no mistaking how serious she was. “Just say that. If he has any other questions I will handle it, okay?”

Nicole nodded just once. She had to admit she did not like this side of Wynonna. Seeing the girl so serious was unnerving. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the girl could take something seriously but it was the way she had not even made a single joke since they had started talking. Her worry about her sister was evident on her face and that terrified Nicole the most. Nothing rattled Wynonna. Nothing but this, apparently.

“I’ll keep you updated” Wynonna dropped her hand and once more turned toward the parking lot. She couldn’t explain how she knew but she just knew something bad was going on. She felt it in her gut. Waverly never went black like this.No matter what was happening in the day Waverly always checked in. She knew Wynonna worried, especially now, so she always tried to put her mind at ease. But she hadn’t heard from Waverly in hours. Something terrible was going on.

Nicole just watched Wynonna leave because she knew there was no stopping her. So she waited until the girl took off in her truck before she released a breath she had not realized she had been holding. Her head gave a shake and she turned to walk toward her own car so she could go to practice. She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to focus now that she was so worried. But she had to. Hockey was still pretty important and every game counted now more than ever.

~.~.~.~.~.

“What happened!?” Nicole nearly shouted as soon as she came in the door of her apartment. She had gotten a vague text from Wynonna that told her she had Waverly. When she had not elaborated on what had happened Nicole’s mind had started to spiral out of control. She was picturing the worst possible scenario and it kind of terrified her how dark her mind could go.

“Shhh” Wynonna held up her hand to try and slow Nicole’s rushing into the living room. Once she had Nicole’s attention she folded her arms over herself and shook her head. Her eyes were red. She had been crying. She sniffled and motioned now behind her “She’s asleep in bed.”

“What the Hell?” Nicole’s eyes widened when she saw Wynonna’s red eyes and heard her soft tone. The girl looked defeated and weak. Like she had been broken. “What is going on?”

“He hit her” Wynonna breathed out the words as if they were painful to say. They were. They were words she never wanted to have to speak. Her head shook and her eyes dropped to her feet. She drew in a shaky breath and shrugged her shoulders “I’m going to kill him.”

Nicole hadn’t heard anything after Wynonna had said Waverly had been hit by their father. Her entire body went numb and she almost felt like she was going to faint. Her vision tunneled and she felt her heart stop. Her lungs ceased. Everything went black. She was pretty sure she had died for a few seconds. The thought of that man putting his hands on Waverly had very nearly killed her.

“So I need you to stay with her” Wynonna had continued talking. She had no idea Nicole had nearly blacked out from shock or rage or whatever emotion it was that had surged through her at the news.

“Wait, what?” Nicole seemed to be pulled out of her near death experience suddenly. She blinked and her vision came back to focus on Wynonna. Her brows creased together and she quickly shook her head “You’re nuts. I’m going with you.”

“No you’re not” Wynonna coughed out the words as she stepped around Nicole and moved toward the door.

“The Hell I’m not” Nicole growled sharply as she turned to follow.

“Stay here” Wynonna said firmly but still softly as she slid her coat on now.

“No” Nicole puffed out her chest defiantly and stood her ground. “I’m not going to let you go there alone and-”

“Stay here!” Wynonna yelled the words with venom in her tone. Her eyes fixed Nicole with a glare so fierce it pierced right through her and sent a chill up her spine.

Nicole took a step back when Wynonna lashed out at her. She held her hands up defensively “Let me help, Wynonna. You do not have to do this alone.”

“You want to help?” Wynonna growled now as she slipped into that state of anger where being polite was completely off the table. “You said you’d never hurt her. You said you’d take care of her. So, go” She motioned behind Nicole toward the door of the bedroom where Waverly was asleep “Take care of her until I get back. That is where I need you, Nicole. Right here with her.”

“But, I-”

“God damn it, Haught” Wynonna stepped up into Nicole’s personal space now. She brought her face right up next to Nicole’s. She stared her right in the eyes, trying like Hell to intimidate the girl so she would stop insisting she come along. As she spoke it was through gritted teeth now “Stay with her.”

Nicole backed up a few more steps to put some space between them. Her hands shook slightly as genuine fear of Wynonna moved through her. She had never really been afraid that Wynonna would harm her until that moment. In that moment she felt that Wynonna was so desperate and so hurt that she would do anything to get her way. So she gave a nod and didn’t argue.

Seeing the unbridled fear flash across Nicole’s face immediately made Wynonna’s heart ache. She drew in a breath to try and calm herself down before she moved back toward the door. She reached out for her keys then turned to look at the other girl. When she spoke it was once more in the deflated broken tone from earlier “This is the way it has to be, Nicole. I have to face him alone if I ever want this to stop. I just can’t believe-” She choked on her words now and gave her head a quick shake.

“Hey. It’s not your fault” Nicole rushed over to comfort her friend without hesitation. All fear was gone. She knew Wynonna was hurting and nothing would stop her from trying to make her feel better. “None of this is your fault, Wynonna. You’ve done everything you could to protect her, okay?”

“I failed” Wynonna cried out softly. She then straightened up where she stood and wiped her nose. She would not cry. She would turn the sadness into anger and use that anger to stand up to the one person on the entire planet that scared her.

“It’s not your fault” Nicole repeated. She put a hand on Wynonna’s shoulder and gave a very light squeeze. It was breaking her heart to see her friend bogged down by the weight of the world she was carrying on her shoulders. She wanted nothing more than to help her but at the moment what she needed was to do this alone. So she would wait here with Waverly and make sure she was taken care of while Wynonna was away.

Wynonna cleared her throat and stepped away from Nicole. She pulled the door open and moved to step outside. She paused just outside and looked back at Nicole with a little shake of her head. When their eyes met, there was a sense of honest dread behind Wynonna’s gaze. It looked as though she were afraid she was marching into a fight she could not win. She drew in a deep breath and nodded just once to Nicole “Take care of her for me.”

Nicole just nodded. She watched with a frown as Wynonna shut the door behind her. Nicole’s heart was racing. She had so many different things going on inside her at the moment. She was pissed. She was scared. She was hurt. She worried that Wynonna was making a huge mistake. She was battling with being with Waverly and following Wynonna so she wouldn’t be alone. After a moment she let out a heavy sigh and turned toward the bedroom. She would fulfill Wynonna’s wish and stay with Waverly even if everything inside her told her that was not a good idea. She had to shake it away because, honestly, her girlfriend needed her too. So she moved across the apartment toward the door. 

As she reached the door she paused. A wave of nausea rose in her throat because she was nervous about what she would see when she walked in the room. How badly had he beaten Waverly? Would she be able to handle it or would she break down? She wanted to be strong for her girlfriend. So she drew in another long breath to steel her nerves then pushed the door open slowly.

She was greeted by a dark room. The only light was coming from a small lamp in the corner. She stepped in and her heart jumped into her throat when she realized that there was someone else in the room with Waverly. She gasped in surprise then immediately let out a sigh of relief as recognition came to her “Jeremy?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you” Jeremy spoke softly from where he sat on a chair he had brought into the room from the kitchen. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay and Wynonna said I could stay.” He shook his head as his eyes settled back on Waverly “I was worried when I hadn’t heard from her so I reached out to Wynonna. That’s when she told me what happened.”

“Of course you can stay” Nicole whispered with a nod as she moved over to the bed now timidly. Her eyes flickered down to her sleeping girlfriend and she felt her pulse race. She was still terrified about what she was going to find. Her mind had gone to the worst possible place when Wynonna had told her that Waverly had been hit by their father.

The two of them fell silent as both of them looked at the sleeping girl. Nicole sat on the edge of the bed and took hold of Waverly’s hand gently. She let out a sigh and her eyes closed. She felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She should have noticed that Waverly had not come to find her during school. She should have realized something was wrong. She should have figured it out sooner before whatever had happened could unfold.

At the thought of what had happened, her eyes lifted and she looked at Jeremy. She spoke softly so as not to startle him “What happened?”

Jeremy just shrugged and gave his head a shake “Wynonna said she found her at their house. She was in tears and saying something about how she had tried to get proof.” He just let out a heavy sigh as his eyes lifted to Nicole now “I don’t know what that means.”

“I do” Nicole’s heart sank. She was the one that had suggested they try to get proof of the abuse. She thought they had all agreed it was not going to happen. Apparently Waverly had taken it upon herself to try and get the proof. Apparently it had backfired. She could not believe Waverly would do something so reckless. It was brave but really stupid.

Just then Waverly stirred. She rolled over in bed, her back having been toward Nicole, and opened her eyes. Well one eye. Her left eye was already swollen shut. When she realized that Nicole was next to her she immediately started to cry. She wiped a tear from her right eye and shook her head very slightly “I messed up.”

“Hey, its okay” Nicole’s voice trembled very softly as her hand moved to cup at Waverly’s cheek. She rubbed her thumb over the girl’s cheek, wiping away the tears that trickled out, as her eyes focused on Waverly’s face. She could see the bruising around where the girl had been hit and she felt her heart breaking behind her ribs. She drew in a deep breath to try to keep herself from crying as she spoke gently “All that matters is that you’re safe now.”

Waverly just shook her head. She pushed herself up from lying down and sat against the headboard of the bed. She sniffled and swiped her hand under her nose now. Her eyes avoided looking at Nicole as she pulled nervously at the sheet that she was laying under “I shouldn’t have gone alone. I just thought if I was alone he would only shout at me. I didn’t think he would hit me.”

“This is not your fault” Nicole said firmly. Her throat felt like it was closing in on itself as she fought the urge to cry. She hated seeing her girlfriend in pain like this. “You were just trying to help.”

“It was stupid” Waverly shook her head and slowly looked up at Nicole now with a frown.

“It was” Nicole agreed with a nod because she wasn’t going to lie about that fact. “But it was also brave. Sometimes being brave requires putting your own well being at risk.”

“It was super brave” Jeremy chimed in now with a nod.

Waverly just shrugged but cast a quick smile at her friend. She then sighed and looked back at Nicole. Her eye twitched and she let out a soft groan as her hand lifted to touch at her face. It was sensitive and she let out a soft sigh as her eyes moved back to look at Jeremy “Can you go get me an ice pack from the freezer?”

Nicole turned to look at Jeremy and quickly nodded “There are a few in there because I use them to ice myself after games sometimes. The towels to wrap around them are in the drawer by the stove.”

Jeremy gave a quick nod to show he had heard the instructions then quickly moved out of the room.

Waverly waited until the door clicked closed before her eyes focused back on Nicole. She gave her a serious look, the best she could with one swollen eye, and spoke firmly “You have to go stop Wynonna.”

“What?” Nicole had not been expecting that.

“I’m serious, Nicole” Waverly reached out and took hold of one of Nicole’s hands. She gave it a firm squeeze as if using the hold on her hand to try and emphasise her point “I’m afraid she’s going to do something stupid.”

“Like what?” Nicole was still pretty surprised by the sudden change of mood in the room.

“I’m afraid she won’t stop until one of them is dead” Waverly’s voice trembled as she spoke the truth of her fear.

Nicole just shook her head slightly. She stared at Waverly like she didn’t quite believe what she had just heard. Her brows creased together as she focused on her girlfriend and when her face did not flinch she felt her heart drop again. She was barely able to breathe out the word “What?”

“Please” Waverly breathed out quickly as she heard Jeremy coming back. She gave him a soft smile and reached for the ice pack as it was offered to her.

“I got you some aspirin, too” Jeremy set the bottle of pills down alongside the water bottle he had grabbed as well. He then shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Can you stay a while?” Waverly asked as she lifted the ice pack to her eye. She hissed as soon as it touched her face. She drew in a deep breath to calm the pain surging through her before she let the breath out slowly. She gave a nod then glanced at Nicole “Nicole needs to run an errand for me.”

“I…” Nicole scowled at Waverly and shook her head in a way of telling her she was not going to leave. When Waverly fixed her with a one eyed stare she blinked just once. She didn’t want to leave her girlfriend. She also didn’t want to upset Wynonna and she had made it perfectly clear that she wanted Nicole to butt out.

“Go” Waverly barked with a bit of a bite in her tone. “I will be just fine here.”

“I am a great nurse” Jeremy agreed with a nod and a smile. “My mom had surgery on her thumb last year and I helped take care of her.”

“Waverly, she told me to-”

“Please” Waverly’s tone was still strong but it was a little softer now. She kept her eye focused on Nicole and after a moment she blinked just once and gave a single nod. “Just make sure everything is alright.”

Nicole realized there was no arguing. So she finally gave in with a sigh. She stood up now from the bed and leaned over to place a light kiss to the top of Waverly’s head. She then turned and looked at Jeremy with a serious look on her face “You call me if anything happens.”

“Okie dokie!” Jeremy gave a playful salute then moved around Nicole to sit on the chair he had brought in earlier.

Nicole looked back at Waverly and let out a soft sigh “Are you sure?”

“Please” Waverly repeated. Her face then softened and the half of her face that was not hidden behind the ice pack turned up into a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course” Nicole gave with a slight nod. She let her eyes linger on Waverly for just a moment more before she moved out of the bedroom. She was letting the sight of the ice pack over her girlfriend’s face motivate her. She knew Wynonna would be pissed when she came and interfered but she had to believe Waverly when she said she was worried. So she would risk Wynonna being mad if it meant stopping her from doing something she would regret.

She grabbed the keys to her car and slid her coat over her arms. She glanced back at the bedroom once more then pulled the door open and moved out of the apartment. She couldn’t shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach that something terrible was coming. She felt horrible leaving Waverly but she knew the girl would worry the entire time. Hopefully her leaving would turn out to be the right choice. She hoped so because she could not shake the feeling that Ward Earp was not done doing damage.

~.~.~.~.~.

“Ward Earp you fucking coward!” Wynonna yelled as she kicked the door of the Homestead open. After taking Waverly back to Nicole’s she decided to hunt down her father and let him know that what he had done was not acceptable. She thought maybe he had returned to work but the officers at the station let her know he had gone home early. She then went to his favorite liquor store to confirm he had made his usual purchase. With this information in hand she figured out he had gone home to drink away what he had done to Waverly. Or celebrate. She wasn’t sure how he felt about it yet.

When Wynonna burst into the house it caused the man to jump in fright. He had been sitting alone on the couch, drinking, still in his police uniform, in a silent house so the sudden appearance had scared him completely. He looked up at Wynonna with wide eyes as he focused on her and after a moment his face turned into a frown and his head gave a shake “What the Hell are you doing here? Skipping practice like the slacker you are?”

“Sure let’s go with that” Wynonna snorted with a roll of her eyes as she moved through the living room to stand across from where he sat. The coffee table was between them at the moment and that was probably for the best because Wynonna felt like if she was within arm’s length she might strangle the man to death. “You know, shitbag, I have always thought you were the lowest of the low on the scale of humanity but you’ve managed to surprise me yet again.”

The man rolled his eyes at his daughter and let out a puffed snort through his nose before tilting the whiskey bottle to his face. He took a quick swallow then shook his head “I should smack you in the mouth so hard you’re afraid to speak again for talking to me like that.”

“Go ahead” Wynonna gave a shrug then motioned to her own face. She then held her hands out to the side in a gesture that challenged the man to take a swing. “At least you would be hitting someone your own size.”

“You suddenly think you’re too big for your britches?” The man sat up a little more straight now that he could see that it seemed Wynonna had come for a fight.

“I’ve always been a bigger person than you and I always will be. Today you proved that without a shadow of a god damn doubt when you laid hands on Waverly” Wynonna growled the words now so there was no mistaking what this was all about.

“I barely touched her” He tried to cough the accusation off before he took another drink of whiskey.

“Her swollen, black eye says different you fucking dick cheese” Wynonna could feel her rage boiling from head to toe and her tone was raising with each word she spoke. “She is a fucking angel! You have done a lot of shitty things in your life, none of them that were even remotely on the spectrum of being okay, but hitting her?” She shook her head as she pulled her coat off feverishly and threw it to the side. She pointed at herself in the chest firmly a few times as her eyes narrowed in on her father’s drunken stare “You’ll pay for that.”

“Oh yeah?” Ward shot up to his feet now. His chest heaved in and out as his own anger started to boil from the berating he was getting. He eyed Wynonna up and down slowly then gave his head a flick of a nod “You gonna make me pay for it?”

“You’re damn right I am” Wynonna straightened her stance and puffed out her chest. The two of them would have been face to face had the coffee table not been between them. They stared at one another as if daring the other to take the first swing. 

After a moment Ward let out a laugh. He shook his head slightly and stepped around the table. He drew closer to Wynonna, a smirk of amusement living on his lips, as he closed the gap between the two. He almost looked like a lion stalking his prey as he moved. Once he was within a half of a step he cocked his head to the side and perked an eyebrow “What are you waiting for? You think you’re so tough? Let’s see how tough you-”

Wynonna punched her father right in the mouth. It caused the man to stumble backwards suddenly and slam into the wall behind him. He looked stunned. He lifted his hand to his jaw and touched a finger to his lip. When he saw blood on his finger he smirked. His eyes lifted to look at Wynonna and another gross laugh slipped from his mouth.

Wynonna’s heart was pounding so hard she wondered if her father could hear it. She hoped not. She did not want the man to have any indication that she was terrified. She was hoping her rage about what he had done to Waverly could take over the part of her that was afraid of her father. She needed to focus on that feeling if she was going to get through this. 

“You wanna go little girl?” Ward pushed off the wall now, licking blood from his bottom lip, before taking a few steps toward Wynonna.

Wynonna just tried to laugh at her father to hide the fact she was terrified. Instead she perked an eyebrow and lifted both of her fists to show she was ready for a fight “Let’s dance old man. You’ve wanted this day for a while and it’s finally here.”

That seemed to be all the man needed to hear. He pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and charged at Wynonna. Though he had been drinking he was not so far gone that his balance was affected yet. So even though Wynonna side stepped his rush he was able to change course just enough to drive his shoulder into her ribcage.

The contact was enough to cause Wynonna to spin to her left and stumble backwards. She was off balance when her legs caught the coffee table and the contact was enough to tangle her feet just slightly which caused her to tumble to the floor. She landed on her side and quickly rolled to her back.

Ward had pounced on Wynonna as soon as he saw that she was down. He lunged at her but Wynonna had been quick to focus and lifted her knees right up into his gut as he came down on top of her. The contact forced all the air out of his lungs and he groaned out loudly as he was shoved to the side. He rolled a few times then came to a stop on his hands and knees. His arm slid around his stomach and he tried to pull in a few breaths as pain radiated through his stomach and chest. Wynonna’s knees had hit him right under his diaphragm making it hard to pull in deep breaths.

Once Wynonna realized that her father was down she quickly scrambled to her feet. She kept her distance from the man as she stepped around behind him so he couldn’t reach out and grab her feet. She drew in a few deep breaths and gave her head a little bit of a shake as she stared at the man struggling to breathe “Is that all you got, you drunk? Because I’m just getting started.”

A strangled laugh came from Ward’s lips. He slowly climbed off his knees to his feet, brushing dirt from his hands, before turning around to face Wynonna. He drew in another deep breath and his head gave a slight cock to the side as he eyed his daughter “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Bullshit” Wynonna laughed the word out and gave her head a shake. “Don’t you dare pretend you care about my well being. It’s too late for that. You crossed a line and there is no going back.” She looked the man over just once and let out a huff of disgust “You should be ashamed to call yourself an Earp.”

Rage surged through Ward again and he once more lunged at Wynonna. He was able to catch her around the waist with his arms and pushed her backwards a few steps until they slammed into a nearby bookshelf. The contact caused everything to fall off the shelves as the two of them tumbled together to the floor.

Wynonna groaned out in pain as she hit the floor. The contact with the bookshelf had knocked the air out of her. She closed her eyes and rolled to the side as she tried like Hell to draw in a steadying breath and focus again on her father.

The impact had been absorbed by Wynonna so Ward had not really been affected. He was quick to regain his bearings once they hit the floor together. He saw that Wynonna had curled into a ball and he took the chance to once more pounce on her. With all his weight he landed on top of Wynonna. Before she could fight it both of his hands wrapped around her throat and started to squeeze.

Her hands lifted and she immediately started to pull at her father’s hands. Her fingers curled into his flesh and she scratched as hard as she could. She had already been struggling to breathe and now that was impossible. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the man who had been terrorizing her for most of her life. She couldn’t believe he had gotten the jump on her yet again.

Ward’s eyes lit with a wild anger and joy as he stared down at Wynonna under his hands. His grip tightened with every second that he had her pinned below him. A wicked smirk rose on his lips and a satisfied laugh slipped out of his mouth “Once again your cocky little attitude has gotten you in trouble. This time your little sister isn’t here to bail you out.”

Wynonna gasped and her grip on his wrist started to loosen. She felt her body starting to go warm. Her eyes closed and she opened her mouth as widely as she could in an attempt to get even the smallest amount of air into her burning lungs. She gave a few kicks of her feet hoping to knock the man off balance just enough that she would be able to escape. Her strength had faded, though, and her movements were futile. Her lungs strained once more in a last attempt for air before she felt herself starting to tingle. She was going to pass out.

Suddenly a heavy glass vase was brought down against Ward’s head. The man immediately went limp and fell to the side, his grip releasing Wynonna’s throat, hitting the floor face first.

Nicole blinked in surprise as she stared down at the two crumpled bodies. She had rushed into the Homestead to see the man over Wynonna and had reacted before she had really processed what had been happening. She shook her head and her focus came back. She quickly stepped over Wynonna, putting herself between the unconscious man and her friend, before crouching down and lightly touching Wynonna’s face “Wynonna?”

A soft groan came from Wynonna’s lips as air rushed back into her desperate lungs. She coughed out a few times and reached for her chest with her hands. She laid there and drew in a few long breaths before her eyes came open. Feeling had come back to her arms and legs as air finally filled into her lungs again. She managed to push herself up to sitting before she realized that Nicole was next to her. Her head shook and a trembling hand reached to her sore throat as her eyes focused on her friend “You saved my life, dude.”

“Are you okay?” Nicole put a hand to Wynonna’s back to help support her where she sat. She glanced behind her to the unmoving man and shook her head before looking back to her friend “Are you fucking insane? What were you trying to do?”

“I had it all under control” Wynonna tried to laugh at the words but it hurt her throat too much. So she gave a crooked smile and just shrugged. She tried to clear her throat before her hand now reached out to Nicole “Help me up. Let’s get the Hell out of here.”

Nicole got to her feet and took hold of each of Wynonna’s hands. She gave a firm tug and soon the girl was on her own feet. She then started to brush her hands over Wynonna’s side and back to swipe the dust and dirt off her friend. Her head shook now and after a few more passes of her hands over Wynonna’s back she straightened and looked at her friend “What were you thinking?”

“I just wanted…” Wynonna motioned behind Nicole to the man still lying motionless on the floor. She let out a defeated sigh and focused her eyes back to her friend “I was so mad, Nicole. He put his fucking hands on her…” She shook her head and looked at her feet.

“I know” Nicole gave a nod. She reached out and put her hand under Wynonna’s chin. She pulled up and when their eyes met she gave just a slight shake of her head “But this was stupid.”

“I fucking know, Nicole!” Wynonna shouted out in frustration. She pushed Nicole away from her and took a few steps backwards. She ran a hand through her hair and anger filled her again as she motioned to her father. “But I’m done with this shit! I wanted it to be over so I-”

“So what?” Nicole motioned behind her blindly toward the man as she yelled “So you risk your life to fight him? Haven’t you learned the violence is not the answer here?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Wynonna nearly screamed the words. She was so frustrated with how her life had played out and it was all boiling up in the moment. “I’ve been fighting my entire life, Nicole. All I know how to do is fight! It’s all I’m good at!”

“You don’t always have to fight with your fists” Nicole spoke firmly but softly. She did not want to get into a shouting match. She knew emotions were running high and the last thing she wanted was for Wynonna to think she was picking a fight with her, too. “Your fists haven’t worked up to this point so why would that suddenly change?”

Wynonna just let out a frustrated huff then deflated lightly where she stood. She knew Nicole was right. She ran her hand through her hair again before motioning to her friend now with a slight shrug of her arm “What do we do?”

“I called the cops on my way here” Nicole admitted softly. She was sure Wynonna would be pissed but it was time they involved the authorities. “So let’s go outside and wait for them to get here. I think they’ll see the mess in here and the bruises on your neck and do the right thing.”

“You called the cops?” Panic rushed through Wynonna in a flash. She drew in a deep breath and stared at her friend in horror. She then took another breath and released it out slowly. Her panic faded and she nodded just once “Yeah, okay. Let’s go wait for them.”

Nicole was relieved to hear that Wynonna was not upset at her. She let out a breath she had not realized she was holding and a slight smile came to her lips. She motioned toward the door and gave her friend a slight nod “I’m so glad you-”

“Nicole, watch out!”

Suddenly the sound of a gunshot filled the Homestead.

~.~.~.~.~.


	17. Duggan, Decker, Knight, and now, Earp

_“Shit, Nicole!” Wynonna lunged forward to cover her fallen friend’s body. She wasn’t really sure what had happened. She had seen her father rolling over and drawing his service pistol from his waist. Then she heard a gunshot and saw Nicole fall._

_“Freeze! Drop the gun and put your hands where we can see them!” The Deputy Sheriff of the Purgatory PD burst in the front door of the Homestead just then. He had his gun drawn and pointed at Ward who looked a little stunned at what had just happened._

_“Nicole…” Wynonna shook her friend as tears immediately filled her eyes. She looked down and that’s when she saw the blood. There was so much blood. Her eyes went wide and she turned to yell at one of the many officers now flooding into the Homestead “SOMEBODY HELP HER!”_

Wynonna blinked away the memory and drew in a deep breath. She lifted her hand and knocked very lightly on the door that she had been standing outside of for a few minutes now.

“Come in” Waverly’s voice was soft but in an empty house it seemed to echo throughout.

Wynonna put on a forced smile and stepped into the room. As soon as she saw her little sister all dressed up, putting the finishing touches on her make up in her bedroom mirror, her smile turned genuine. “Well look at you.”

Waverly gave a half smile in the reflection of the mirror before she leaned in and dabbed her finger against her lips to even out the light lipstick she had just applied “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

Wynonna looked over her own outfit now that Waverly had drawn attention to it. It was weird for her to be in any color that wasn’t a shade of black. But she had decided to put a little more effort into her look today. Her hand smoothed down over the cardinal red sheath dress that was cinched at the waist by a white belt. It wasn’t really her style but her mother had suggested she wear something a little more feminine for the occasion.

The fact that Momma Earp had returned suddenly kind of annoyed Wynonna. She knew that the woman meant well, and did truly care about her daughters, but the timing of it all was hideous. She had been too much of a coward to come back while Ward was still a free man. Now that he was locked away for shooting Nicole, as well as the child abuse charges, she had found the guts to return. She claimed she wanted to be their for the girls in their time of need. Wynonna was pretty sure the woman just wanted to appear to be a supporting mother now that the girls were in the headlines.

What had happened with Ward Earp had not only been the talk of their tiny town but the news had stretched far and wide. Soon the story of the top women’s hockey prospect in Canada and her battle with an abusive father was all anyone could talk about. That was juicy enough. The fact that he had shot her best friend, who had saved her life, was the cherry on top of the hot gossip sundae.

Soon calls were coming from all over Canada, the United States, and even some countries in Europe. They wanted to know her story. They wanted to see how the girls were moving on. They wanted to offer Wynonna huge scholarships to come play for their Universities. Suddenly Wynonna Earp was the LeBron James of women’s hockey. Her decision on where she was going to play college hockey was all over the news. People were making bets and trying to start rumors as to where she had decided to sign. It was annoying.

It had been three months since that fateful day at the Homestead and all the buzz around her had finally settled down. She had put off deciding where she was going to go to school because, well, there were more important things going on in her life. She had to worry about the sudden reappearance of her mother. She had to worry about her father and all the lawyers. Willa had suddenly come back, too. Luckily she hadn’t stayed too long. She had school to get back to. Then, of course, there was Waverly. As always her little sister had been her number one concern.

“I wish she could be here today” Waverly broke the silence that had filled her room once Wynonna had started to think about everything that had happened leading up to today.

Wynonna just gave a nod. She drew in a deep breath and moved closer to her sister now “I miss her, too.”

Waverly blinked a few times to stop the tears that had surged forward suddenly. She did not want to cry. Not only had she just done her makeup but she had spent the last three months crying. She was done with that. Today was a happy day. She needed to focus on that.

Seeing Waverly about to cry immediately choked Wynonna up. She quickly cleared her throat in an attempt to push away the feeling and shook her head “Don’t you dare, babygirl.”

“I know” Waverly gave a quick nod and tried to smile. “I just…” She let out a heavy sigh and stepped closer to her sister now. Her hands reached out and slid down Wynonna’s arms until they reached the belt around her sister’s waist. She smiled as she tapped the white strip of leather then looked up with a nod “You look amazing. I am so proud of you.”

“We did it” Wynonna said with a slight nod. She pulled her sister into a hug now whether she wanted it or not. She drew in another long, steadying breath and touched a kiss to the top of her sister’s head “This is a fresh start, babygirl. This is everything we’ve worked for so let’s focus on that.”

Waverly pulled back from the hug and gave a small smile. She wiped under her eye to catch the single tear that had managed to escape. She then stepped completely out of her sister’s arms and let out a very soft laugh “Are you ready to do this?”

Wynonna shook her head as a breath of a laugh escaped her lips “I’ve been ready for this day for most of my life. What I am not ready for is all the hubbub surrounding it.” She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she playfully growled out “Fucking Nedley.”

Nedley had been a saint through everything that had happened. He had fielded most of the calls for interviews with Wynonna. He had been there for her during every meeting with lawyers and scouts. He had been there to offer unbiased advice. He had been more of a father than her actual father had ever been.

So when Wynonna had told Nedley that she had finally decided where she wanted to go to school he had been thrilled. He had gone about planning a huge celebration in her honor. The City Council of Purgatory had jumped on board to help as soon as they heard the news. There was honestly nothing better to do in Purgatory anyway. Besides most of the town had been looking forward to this day for years. Wynonna Earp would be their claim to fame forever.

Now she was tasked with dealing with a crowd of people she didn’t particularly like or care about. There were going to be photographers and reporters from all over Canada and the United States there. She would have to do interviews and even give a speech. She would be cursing Nedley every second she had to deal with all of this.

“Girls are you ready?” Michelle Earp yelled up from the bottom of the stairs.

Wynonna rolled her eyes and looked at Waverly with a little shake of her head “Sounds like Mother of the Year is ready. Are you?”

Waverly smirked in amusement and gave a nod. This was it. After today Wynonna would be committed to a scholarship. After today their lives would change forever. Again.

~.~.~.~.~.

Luckily Wynonna had been kept out of sight up until the moment she walked out to the table that was set up for her to sit at while she signed her Letter of Intent. It was a letter that thousands of high school athletes signed each year to let the school know that they were committed to attending in the fall. It was a contract between student and school that the scholarship money was guaranteed and the student would not go anywhere else. It was something that was not made a huge deal out of anywhere. But today was different. With all the publicity and scandal and drama that had surrounded Wynonna the past few months it was a spectacle. Whether she liked it or not her story was a worldwide obsession.

But she wanted to play. More importantly she wanted to take care of Waverly. She wanted to do right by everyone that had worked so hard to keep her on track. She wanted to prove all her doubters wrong and, even more so, all of her believers right. So she put up with the whole thing. She went along with it because she knew this would all die down and she would eventually be left alone to play hockey.

So she sat at the table with the letter and the microphones. She made her public declaration that she would be playing for the Wisconsin Badgers next season. She scribbled her name and smiled for the cameras as she was handed a hat with the school’s signature ‘W’ displayed on it. She slid the hat on, shook the athletic director’s hand, and smiled for more cameras.

As the flashes died down she was motioned to make her speech. She had been dreading this moment since she had learned that Nedley had set up this whole shebang. But she would do it for him. She knew what she wanted to say so she would make it short and sweet.

She moved to stand at the podium that was set up at the corner of the stage. She cleared her throat and looked out over the audience. People were giving her a standing ovation and cameras were blinding her with flashes. But she stood there with a forced smile and a stupid ball cap on her head for all the world to see.

Finally it all died down and she gave a nod. Her eyes scanned the audience for just a moment. She saw her mother sitting front row center. She fought off rolling her eyes at that. She then saw Nedley and Waverly sitting side by side, smiling proudly, and her annoyance faded. She could do this. She gave a nod at herself, cleared her throat once more, and started into her speech.

“Today is a day I have thought about almost everyday of my life for as long as I can remember. I won’t stand up here and pretend like I knew without a doubt that this day would come. I have endured injuries, self-doubt, slumps, and many other hardships on my journey to this day. I can not stand here today and take all the credit. I would not be here without a few very stubborn people in my life so I’d like to say thank you to them really fast and then I will get out of your hair.”

There was a collective laugh at Wynonna’s joke. She paused for a moment to let the laugh pass before her eyes focused on Nedley and Waverly in front of her. She gave them a soft smile and continued “Nedley, there were days I wanted to send a puck flying at your head” She smirked and everyone, including Nedley, laughed. “And there were days I’m sure you felt the same.” There was another laugh and even a nod from the old man. Wynonna smiled at that and continued “But you never gave up on me despite almost everyone in your life thinking you were crazy for putting up with my shenanigans. I can’t put into words what that means to me. So I will simply say thank you.”

A round of applause was given to Nedley now. The man stood up and gave a wave to the crowd. Most of them had known him for longer than Wynonna had been alive and they were all cheering for his accomplishments in coaching that year.

As the applause died Wynonna started up again. She gave a motion to her sister and nodded just once “Waverly you were my rock. You believed in me more than anyone, including myself. You never let me waver. You never let me quit. You annoyed me until I did what was right because that’s who you are” The crowd laughed but Waverly sniffled because she was already crying. “I can say without an ounce of doubt that I would not be here without you. I am excited to start the next chapter of our lives together. We did it, babygirl!”

The crowd erupted. Everyone in town knew how close the two sisters were. When Waverly stood and quickly made her way to where Wynonna was, wrapping her up in a hug, the crowd got even louder. They all cheered and shouted and celebrated these two girls. Where this support was while their father was terrorizing them no one would ever know. But it seemed like the town was trying to make up for it now. It was a gross display but with all eyes on Purgatory they had to put on a show, right?

“I am so proud of you” Waverly whispered against Wynonna’s ear as they stayed in their embrace for a few long moments.

Wynonna squeezed her sister as tightly as she dared. She knew there was no way this day would have come without Waverly by her side. As they pulled from the hug Wynonna lifted her thumbs to wipe away her sister’s streaking mascara before whispering to her softly “If you don’t stop crying you’re gonna get me going and then no one will take me seriously on the ice.”

This got a laugh from Waverly as she stepped away from her sister. She stayed by her side as Wynonna approached the microphone to finish the rest of her speech.

“Alright, alright, settle down” Wynonna used her hands to urge the crowd to quiet down. As they all shuffled around to find their seats again she leaned into the microphone once more “I just wanted to quickly thank one more person. Without her I literally would not physically be here. So, Nicole…” Her eyes lifted to look over the crowd. Her smile fell and her face was serious as her eyes scanned the faces. She knew they all knew what Nicole had done. This was the first time she had publicly said anything about it. She wanted them all to see that she meant the words from the bottom of her heart. “...I will never forget the sacrifice you made for me.”

She stepped away from the mic now, turning her back on the crowd, and rushing behind the curtains that hung at the side of the stage of the high school auditorium where all of this had been set up for her announcement. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes because she felt her emotions getting the best of her. She still had some hands to shake, some interviews to give, and a fancy dinner to attend. She did not want to look like a hot, crying mess for the rest of the day.

“Are you okay?” Waverly asked softly once she caught up to her sister.

“Yeah” Wynonna opened her eyes and put on a quick smile. “It was just…” She motioned to the stage she had just left and shook her head “...a lot. All of this has been a lot.”

“You know what happened wasn’t your fault, right?” Waverly bit her lip and gently put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. She knew Wynonna carried a lot of guilt about what had happened to Nicole that day.

“I was stupid. If she hadn’t showed up I’d be dead” Wynonna rolled her eyes to stop herself from crying.

“I sent her there” Waverly’s tone trembled as she gave a little shake of her head. “If anyone is to blame for what happened, it’s me. I wouldn’t let her say no.”

“I shouldn’t have-”

“There you two are!” Michelle had made her way backstage. She had a huge smile on her face as she found her daughters. “I am so proud of you!” She rushed over and placed a sloppy kiss against Wynonna’s cheek.

“Ew” Wynonna wiped the kiss away and stepped back from her mother.

“Anyway there is someone waiting to speak to you” Michelle motioned to where she had just come from.

“Nedley said I would have some time after my speech before I had to do any interviews” Wynonna groaned and motioned to the part of the auditorium she could see from her position backstage. It was already pretty empty. Everyone had been instructed to clear out once her announcement was over so they could set it up for interviews.

“Nedley told me to come get you. Said this one couldn’t wait” Michelle shrugged and looked at Waverly. “She wants to talk to you, too, sweetie.” She gave her a soft smile and motioned for the girls to follow her as she started toward the door that would lead them to the few steps that separated the side stage from the auditorium.

“Me?” Waverly perked an eyebrow and looked at Wynonna curiously. Through all of the media attention Wynonna’s story had gotten Waverly had been largely left alone. There had been a few people wanting to spin the angle of the two sisters that had fought through the abuse together but for the most part Wynonna had been the center of attention and Waverly had been absolutely okay with that.

Wynonna shrugged and reached out to take Waverly’s hand. She was not really in the mood to be asked the same boring questions about her hockey journey over and over again but at least Waverly would be by her side for this one. Waverly was good at knowing when Wynonna was annoyed and she gladly stepped in to answer whenever she could tell her sister was about to blow up.

The girls followed their mother deeper backstage until they reached the door that led to the stairs that brought them to the auditorium level. As Michelle moved through the door that opened into the auditorium she stepped to the side and motioned to where Nedley stood next to someone. She smiled back at her daughters and gave a nod “Here she is.”

Wynonna stopped in her tracks and her eyes went wide with shock.

Waverly’s heart dropped to her toes. She stared in disbelief for a few seconds before her head shook and she quickly rushed over to the woman standing next to Nedley. She wrapped her arms around her waist tightly and burst into tears.

“Oh, hey, Waves please don’t cry” Nicole mumbled with a soft laugh as she put her hand on Waverly’s back the best she could with a crutch jammed into her armpit.

“Holy shit, Haught” Wynonna laughed out and walked over to her friend now that she realized she was really seeing the girl. She wrapped her arms around Nicole as well, sandwiching her sister between herself and her friend, and gave a tight squeeze.

“Woah, careful” Nicole swayed backwards on her crutches slightly with the momentum that had passed to her through Wynonna’s hug. She used her other hand to pat Wynonna’s back gently “Okay, okay, you gotta let me go cause I’m losing balance.”

“Shit” Wynonna hissed and pulled back. She quickly grabbed onto one of Nicole’s arms to help steady her.

Waverly pulled back too but kept her arms around Nicole’s waist. She held tightly, holding the girl upright, as she gave a teary smile to her girlfriend “I didn’t think you could fly!”

“I can’t” Nicole smiled down at Waverly with a shrug then looked up at Wynonna. “But the doctor’s didn’t say anything about really, really long car rides.”

“You drove all the way up here for me?” Wynonna let out a soft laugh. “You know they’re airing this on ESPNU, right?”

“And miss the look of surprise on your face just now?” Nicole smirked as she motioned to where Wynonna had stood stunned in the doorway of the stage. “Besides, if you’d have known I was coming you probably wouldn’t have thanked me in your speech.”

“You’re damn right” Wynonna laughed and the two girls shared an amused look. They both knew Wynonna would have thanked Nicole regardless. The girl had saved Wynonna’s life that day at the Homestead.

Waverly finally pulled back from where she had been clinging to Nicole. She lifted her hand to touch at her face and gave her head a little shake “I have missed you so much.”

“I know” Nicole spoke softly as the corners of her lips held a smile of fondness for the girl. “Video chat does not do you justice. You look incredible.”

Waverly blushed at the compliment before lifting onto her toes to touch a light kiss to Nicole’s mouth. There was nothing quite like being next to the person you loved and in that moment she was realizing just how true that was.

“Okay, today is about me so can you two tone it down” Wynonna huffed and stepped back from her sister and Nicole, making a gagging motion as she did so.

“Sorry” Nicole gave a bashful laugh as her hands dropped now to take hold of the crutches she had been leaning on. When Ward had fired his gun it had hit Nicole right in the leg. The shot had practically been point blank. Although the bullet was small that did not stop it from doing a massive amount of damage. She had already been through three surgeries and she would need at least one more if no other complications arose.

The bullet had passed through her knee, breaking bones and ripping ligaments on the way through. She had initially been treated at the hospital in Purgatory but it had become evident very quickly that the surgeons there were not capable of fixing everything properly. By the time she had woken up, her parents had been contacted and they had demanded she go see the best knee surgeon money could buy. Unfortunately that knee surgeon was located in Birmingham Alabama.

“How is your recovery going?” Wynonna asked now that they finally had a moment of peace. She had spent most of the day answering interview questions and posing for pictures. Now, though, they were sitting at a table in the finest restaurant Purgatory had to offer. It was time for Nedley’s celebratory dinner which Wynonna was grateful for only because she was starving. She had ordered a basket of bread as soon as they walked in. They were waiting for Nedley and a few others to arrive so it was just Wynonna, Nicole, and Waverly at the table for the moment.

“Uh, good” Nicole looked at her right leg that she had propped up on a chair next to her. It was still heavily wrapped in flexible ace bandages. On the outside of the bandages her entire leg was supported by a black metal brace that stretch from her ankle to her thigh. She shrugged and tapped at where her knee was located under all the bandaging “I finally got clearance to start bending it a little. Not too much. Still can’t put any weight on it.”

Waverly frowned and put her hand on Nicole’s shoulder from where she sat on her left hand side. She had called Nicole almost daily since the moment she had left the hospital in Purgatory. They texted all day and video chatted most nights. She wished she could have been there for Nicole, been by her bedside, but Alabama was just too far away. She didn’t have the money to travel and she couldn’t miss that much school.

Wynonna nodded and looked at where Nicole had tapped. Her heart twisted. She still felt horrible that Nicole had ended up being shot by her father. Even though Nicole insisted she did not blame Wynonna that didn’t stop her from feeling terrible whenever she thought about her friend. She looked away quickly as guilt flooded through her. She cleared her throat and reached for some bread “So do they think you’ll ever play again?”

Nicole coughed out a laugh and shook her head. She looked at her friend with a little smile “The surgery I had to fuse the bones together pretty much took me out of any contact sport. They said I should be able to run again, though, so that’s cool.”

Wynonna slumped where she sat. She had known it was a long shot that Nicole would ever play hockey again but hearing that it was completely out of reach broke her heart. Her friend did not deserve that.

“Hey” Nicole leaned forward the best she could to try and get Wynonna to look up at her from where she sat at the table across from her. She patted the table until her friend finally lifted her eyes. When their gazes met Nicole’s smile had not wavered “Don’t be sad, Earp. This just means you’ll get to hog the spotlight without any competition.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes. She knew Nicole was trying to make her feel better with a joke but it wasn’t working. She would never be okay with the fact that Nicole’s career had been ended because of her own stupidity. She let out a heavy sigh now “I hate the fact that you’ll never play again.”

Nicole just shrugged. She had spent the last three months of her life coming to terms with the fact that the future she had planned for herself was not going to come to fruition. There had been hard days. There had been days she had wanted to overdose on pain medication and end it all. She had believed that life was no longer worth living. But somehow, even at her lowest point, she had not given in. She had something driving her to push forward, to recover, and to walk again. Something inside her told her that her true meaning in life was still out there.

Then one night while video chatting with Waverly it came to her. Waverly was going on about something pertaining to her father’s case when the realization hit Nicole like a ton of bricks. She knew what she wanted to do. She realized that, yeah, her hockey career was over but her life was not. She was meant to do something meaningful. Her entanglement with the Earp sisters had not been coincidence.

“Hey” Nicole gave Wynonna a very gentle smile as she sat back in her seat now that her friend was looking at her again. “Seriously, don’t sweat it. Hockey is such an unsure thing anyway. I mean…” She motioned to her leg and shrugged “One day you’re on the ice and the next day anything can happen and you’re done forever.” She looked back at Wynonna and nodded just once “I was never meant to play hockey forever.”

“Don’t say shit like that” Wynonna said with a frown. “You were the best D-man I’d ever seen.”

“Maybe” Nicole shrugged it off. She looked at Waverly to her left and reached out to take her hand. She let her eyes linger on her girlfriend for a moment before she looked back across the table to Wynonna “But since I can’t do that anymore, I'm going to have to be the best at something else.”

“Yeah?” Wynonna let out a skeptical huff at that “And what might that be?”

“I’m going to be a caseworker for CPS” Nicole nodded firmly. She looked back at Waverly and nodded at her as well “I didn’t wanna say anything until I knew for sure but I got offered an academic scholarship to study in Wisconsin.”

“What?” Waverly’s eyes went wide. It was obvious this was the first time she was hearing about any of this.

“Wait, seriously?” Wynonna coughed out a laugh and a smile came to her face for the first time since they had settled at the restaurant.

Nicole’s smile grew. She looked from her girlfriend to Wynonna and back again. Her head nodded as her hand that held Waverly’s squeezed a little tighter “I didn’t want to tell you until I knew for sure. I got the news before I left Alabama.”

“So you’ll be in the same state as us next year?” Waverly was trying to fight her excitement but was quickly losing that fight as she gave a bounce in her seat.

Nicole laughed out now and nodded again “Baby, I’m going to the same school as Wynonna.” She looked at her friend across the table at that and smirked at her “Didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?”

“Holy shit, Haught!” Wynonna shot up out of her chair and rounded the table quickly.

Waverly squeaked and wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck quickly. She pulled her into a weird sideways over the chair hug.

Wynonna was right there to join and soon Nicole was the meat in the middle of an Earp Sister sandwich.

Nicole let out a soft laugh and used her hands to pat at the girls the best she could. It was hard because Wynonna was above her and had kind of pinned her right arm down when she latched onto the hug and Waverly had pinned her left arm against her side when she had grabbed hold. But she did her best and her hands tapped blindly against the girls a few times gently “Okay, wow, you are both a lot happier than I thought you’d be.”

Wynonna pulled back but kept her hand on Nicole’s shoulder. She was smiling widely down at her friend. The guilt she felt about what had happened would never go away but this definitely helped her feel a little better about it at the very least “I guess this makes us family for life.”

“You mean we weren’t already?” Nicole pouted playfully before giving her friend a smirk.

“I was still on the fence” Wynonna tried to shrug it off as if she really had been unsure. Truth was that she considered Nicole to be a part of her family more than her mother. Or Willa. Nicole had been there when the other two hadn’t been. She had stepped in and helped without having to be asked. That meant something. Wynonna would never forget that. Ever.

Waverly smiled brightly at her sister and girlfriend. She could have never imagined the two of them getting along like this. It warmed her heart. The circumstances that had brought them to this point had not been ideal but, always the optimist, she was grateful nonetheless. Now she was looking forward to starting the next chapter with her two favorite people by her side. The future definitely looked bright.

Nicole lifted her hand in a gesture of solidarity toward Wynonna. As her friend took the offering and their hands clapped together before closing around one another, Nicole gave a nod “Let’s go Badgers?”

Wynonna let out a very soft laugh and nodded just once “Let’s go Badgers.”

\----------------------


End file.
